Yore Solution
by Brandon Payne
Summary: She meets a man and he has a story to tell her, as does she, then they work together to end the Derangement. But the Derangement could end them all as Hephaestus is working on a new machine that just may achieve the Subroutine's genocidal goal.
1. Prologue

Sunlight peeks through large cracks in the ceiling of rock, offering scant lighting within a cave. It is not an actual cave, but ruins from the Metal World. A ruin filled with still usable high technology, but only though a focus. A ruin that also includes their users, now centuries dead as they lie throughout the place.

But a living man is in there, weeping while kneeling with his hands pressed against his face.

He eventually falls silent and sighs wearily while tilting his head back with his eyes still shut and tears streaming down his face. He makes another weary sigh as he wipes his eyes in his sleeve, then gets up and turns around; only to yelp with a jolt upon being confronted by the shape of a person armed with a spear.

"P-P-Please don't kill me!" The man fretted as he holds his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "I-I'm sorry if I trespassed! J-Just let me walk out of here and you'll never see me around here ever again!"

"Relax, I'm not here to kill you," the person said, their voice marking them as a girl. "But I am here to escort you out. Now come on."

"Wait! Are you the girl who helped save that city Meridian and its people?"

"What makes you think I am?"

"I-It's just that you're wearing what I have."

"Yeah, a focus." As she briefly touches her own. "So what else were you told about me?"

"That you have red hair full of braids and your name's Aloy."

The girl is silent as he can see her tilt her head in the near darkness of the room.

"Fine, I am her," she answered dryly. "So who are you? Someone who wants to have a chat with me? Challenge me even?"

"A chat," the man stated.

Aloy is silent for a moment.

"Let's just go," she finally answered as she steps aside and gestures with her spear. "Come on."

The man walks past her, being carefully not to alarm her into stabbing him.

"Keep walking," Aloy said, then falls in line behind him. "I'll tell you which direction to take."

"Okay, I-" the man began.

"Not now. Keep moving."

The man walks, with Aloy following closely behind as she gives directions on where to go or turn. They go upstairs, turn down hallways, and enter other rooms until finally . . .

"That's the way out," she said while pointing with her spear at an open door ahead of them with more sunlight shining from beyond it. "But first," as she stops while clasping his sleeve, causing the man to stop and turn to her, "I'll indulge you with that chat."

"Ah, okay," the man said with humorous unease.

"First off, you're not a Carja. Because you said, that city Meridian and its people."

"That's right. I came from the northwest. There's a tribe that lives up there called the Harguess."

"Did any machines rise up from the ground up there too?"

"Yes."

"That don't surprise me. Secondly, where did you get your focus?"

"I was given this."

"From whom?"

"From my superiors. What about yours now?"

"This was given to me." As she touches her own for a moment. "I had another one I found off a skeleton within these very ruins back when I was a little girl, but it got destroyed. Now let's go."

"Wait a minute. Those other Nora were running over to me and I fell down here. So why is it only you came down here to get me?"

"The Nora shun the ruins, but I am what they call a Seeker. It means I can enter the ruins with impunity. And leave the Sacred Lands too since the Nora are normally forbidden to do that. I wasn't with them at that moment, but somewhere else when a bunch of Braves came running up to me, waving me down. They told me an intruder was in the Sacred Lands and fell in here. So I came down here looking for you and ended up following the sound of your crying. I guess the dead in here does have that effect on others. Now let's go."

The man walks in step with Aloy.

"I came to these lands after I learned you got rid of Hades," he said. "No doubt you purged him."

"That's right, I simply stabbed-hold on," as she stops, compelling the man to stop, as her tone turned suspicious, "I told people that I got rid of Hades, I also told people that I vanquished him. But I never spoke the word, purge. So how do you know that word?"

"Does the name, Elisabet Sobeck, mean anything to you?" The man instead asked.

Aloy's eyes widen with shock. "How do you know that name?" Her voice a hiss.

"Who was Elisabet Sobeck to you?" He instead asked.

"All right, here's what's going to happen, stranger." Her tone firm and deliberate. "You are going to tell me all about yourself, then I will decide on how to answer that question, got it?"

"O-Okay, just let me clear my head first." The man takes a deep breath and exhales. "Now then, first of all . . . I am an Old One."


	2. Chapter 1

Aloy sneers up at the man as her mind teeters between disbelief and wonderment.

"Aloy!"

A shout had broken her train of thought, causing her to rapidly turn toward their way out from where that voice had originated.

"Don't tell them what I am!" The man hissed at Aloy pleadingly. "Please! I'm begging you!"

Aloy stares back up at him for a moment.

"Come on," she sighed while grabbing his arm and pulling him along.

They go through the door and arrive before the exit that Aloy had taken back when she was a little girl.

"Aloy!" The voice belonged to a young man.

"Down here! Gimme a moment!" She called back upon stopping, compelling the man to stop.

With more light to see clearly, Aloy is better able to see the self-proclaimed Old One. He is White with blue eyes and looks young. He has stubbly blonde hair on both his scalp, brow, and lower face. He wears his focus as an earring. His clothing consists of a green tunic with red edges on the sleeves, neck, and rim; green trousers; and brown slipper-like shoes. He carries a large packsack on his back along with a spear tucked vertically alongside it. The spear was a bit of a surprise to Aloy as the man had made no attempt to even defend himself, let alone any attempts to attack her.

"After we get out of here," Aloy stated in a low tone, "I'll be taking you someplace private and you are going to tell me everything."

"Anything you want," the man stated with a wave of his hands. "Just get me out of here alive."

"Come on." As she pulls him along. They stop underneath the opening and look up to the sight of Nora braves surrounding the pit.

"Are you okay, Aloy!" A Black teenaged boy with short dreadlocks shouted down.

"Yeah, I'm fine! As you can see, I got the intruder. Now don't hurt him! I'll escort him out of the Sacred Lands. He only came here looking for me, not to cause trouble."

"Just bring him up here already," a Nora woman said curtly. A Black woman with long straight hair with grey streaks in them.

"Okay, go," Aloy said as she shoves the man forward. "Don't worry, I told them to behave."

"Fine," the man fretted and walks over to the exit.

He begins climbing up out of the pit. Hands reach down to roughly grab and haul him up. A pair of braves firmly take ahold of the man by both sides and they hold their spears menacingly. The man feels his heart beating quickly as he looks down pleadingly at Aloy, who simply bounds upward and out of that pit in a couple of seconds to stand amongst the Nora.

"I can't believe an intruder got into the Embrace," that Black teenaged boy with the short dreadlocks said bitterly alongside his captive with his spear in the other hand.

"Indeed," that Black woman voiced as she walks up in front of the man to glower up at him. "Between the armies of the Eclipse and the Metal Devil's having taken its toll upon us, our numbers are now spread too thinly to properly guard against trespassers."

"I was only looking for Aloy," the man said as he holds his hands up defensively.

"And what do you want with the Annointed, outsider?" A White blond haired grey-eyed young man sneered at him as he is also the other one who has ahold of the captive's other arm.

"And I believe that I said that I'll be dealing with him," Aloy said dryly as she pries their hands off the man, then manually turns the man around and pushes him along. She soon resorts to pulling him along by his wrist, causing the man to take note of her strength.

"Wow, I heard your people were not found of outsiders but I never expected to come close to losing my life!" The man fretted.

"Well they do have a warning to outsiders not to trespass on the pain of death," Aloy answered as she still has a firm hold of him.

"So where's this private place you wish to take me for our talk?"

"It's called Devil's Thirst. They are ruins near the edge of the Sacred Lands."

"Can they be seen from a fort called Mother's Crown? I was told about that fort by the Carja stationed at Dawn's Sentinel. There was nobody up at that fort by the way."

"That's because the Nora had all pulled back into the Embrace, into All-Mother for now. And yes, that was Devil's Thirst you saw from there."

"What is this All-Mother?"

"It's the name of the mountain that is within the Sacred Lands, within the Embrace."

"The one with the Horus on it?"

Aloy stops and turns to leer back up at the man. "Yeah, that's right." Her tone suspicious.

"That mountain was known as Cheyenne Mountain to us. And within it is Eleuthia Cradle Number Nine."

Aloy's eyes widen as does her mouth.

"You really are an Old One!" Her tone was of silent awe. Then turns while tugging on the man. "Come. The sooner we get to Devil's Thirst, the better."

They walk in silence. Aloy eventually releases the man and he continues following after her. Two Broadheads are up ahead, along with a Watcher.

"Stay here," Aloy said as she takes out her spear.

"Hold on," the man suddenly said as if to reach out to grab her. "My machine blinder should cover us both.

"Your . . . machine blinder?" As she leers back at him.

"It's a device that a Harguess man was working on in a place called High Hopes. He may not have been an Oseram, but he was still smart enough to tinker on stuff. After the machines attacked and killed everyone else, I took it." The man takes it out to show her.

"That's a device used to call machines," Aloy said upon recognizing it as such. It was back when she went to Pitchcliff to stop Glinthawks from attacking the place and discovered such a device that a Carja had claimed to have gotten from a workshop up in the mountains. The other time was at an estate where a young man had told her to go and check up on his sister to discover it being attacked by machines. Then discovered that he had set her up, but got killed by a Glinthawk after pulling out another such device.

"That's what I was told." As he looks it over. "But its creator simply changed the signal so that instead of attracting the machines, it blinds them to the area the device is located within. Anyone within it might as well have turned invisible to the machines."

"Really!"

"Good, it didn't get damaged when I fell into that ruin." Then walks past Aloy. "Come, you'll see. But stay quiet though. It won't make you unhearable to them."

Aloy follows the man closely as they carefully walk up to the machines. The Watcher even stares right at them but does not react to their presence as it should have. Aloy glances at the man with a dumbfounded look as they continue walking.

"That's pretty amazing," she whispered to him once they got far enough. "But watch this."

The man watches as Aloy walks up to a Broadhead and suddenly lunges at it, not to stab it but to press the end of her spear against it for a few seconds. He watches as a blue light travels over the metal beast's neck. Aloy next pulls away from it with a flourishing twirl of her spear. She is quick to approach the other Broadhead before it could turn hostile to the other, and vice versa, and does the same thing as well.

"Could you turn off that machine blinder?" Aloy asked the man. "Don't worry, they won't attack us."

"Okay." And he does so. True to Aloy's word, the Broadhead do not attack them. "Wha-What did you do to them?"

"I overrode them with this device," As she hefts the end of her spear up to show him. "I took it off a Corruptor, or should I say a Scarab. Hades had these planted on them to give life to them once again."

"My focus is interacting with it." As he scans the device at the end of her spear.

"I know, that's how I found out about it. Now come." And she mounts a Broadhead.

"Wa-Wa-Wait! You want me to ride this?!"

"Yes, there's yours." As she points at the now tamed Broadhead. "Now get on it and follow me."

The man gets on and Aloy urges her Broadhead into motion. The man also urges his Broadhead into motion by saying giddy-up, following after Aloy as he just barely manages not getting thrown off and needing to hold onto the rim of its chassis in time. He sucks his lips between his teeth due to the bumpiness of the ride and the hardness of its cold metal back. His struggle to keep up with Aloy is his struggle to prevent himself from falling off the Broadhead.

They arrive at Devil's Thirst sooner than if they had gone on foot. Aloy stops her Broadhead and the man does so as well, even though it had been sloppy as he had pulled back on its chassis while hollering, whoa.

"Whoa! Now that was an experience!" the man gasped as he slides off and struggles to remain standing as his legs wobble. "And you got that thing off a Scarab to override them?! Does anyone else have one of those?!"

"No they don't," Aloy said.

"Then that thing is going to become very valuable to others."

"I know. I had a run in with an Oseram who was a little too interested in my spear."

"Nevertheless, domesticating these machines should really aid you new humans."

"Dom-est-eh-kay-ting?"

"It means to tame an animal as a pet or as livestock."

"I've seen the Carja do that with turkeys, ducks, geese, and boar."

"Yes, though in this case it will be domesticating the machines as beasts of burden so that you could use them to pull carts, or even ride upon, to get to places quicker."

"That's interesting. Now follow me. There's a place where we won't be interrupted."

The man follows Aloy into Devil's Thirst, or Colorado Springs as it used to be known. They walk past skyscrapers and other buildings that had long since been reduced to barely standing husks or piles of rubble, along with wrecked rusting automated vehicles to be found as well. And all of it now overgrown with grass, trees, and other plantlife. There are also puddles of water about the place. Machines prowl the ruins and a Tallneck can be seen moving amongst the buildings up ahead.

"Colorado Springs," the man said.

"What?" Aloy asked.

"This was once a city called, Colorado Springs."

"Kall-oh-rad-oh Springs?"

"Yes."

"Anyway, let's head up there." As Aloy pointss up at the top floor of a building, or what is left of it.

"You want us to go up there? That's gonna be a tough climb."

Aloy runs up to the building and gracefully climbs up. She disappears over the top then turns around to look down. "Come on up."

"Ah, do you have a rope for me instead?"

Aloy responds by throwing over the rope of her grappling hook. The man takes ahold of it and wraps it around his forearm. He wonders just how he is going to climb up since she might not possess enough strength to lift him up; only to grunt in surprise upon being pulled up with ease and is soon at the top floor. He struggles to pull himself up with Aloy helping him. They sit away from the ledge and face each other.

"Wow, you're stronger than you look!" The man marveled. "But I guess that must be from years of running, climbing, and hunting machines."

"This place is outside the Sacred Land," Aloy said. "That means it's off limits to the Nora, so we'll have our privacy here. Now then." Her tone turned serious. "Since you know who Elisabet Sobeck was, does that mean you know what Project: Zero Dawn was all about?"

The man stares back at her in thought for a moment.

"I have a better idea," he said. "Why don't you tell me what Project: Zero Dawn was all about, then I'll let you know what I know."

"Fine. It was back when those machines that had rose up from the ground were destroying all life on Earth. An artificial intelligence named Gaia was created before then that would shut down those machines after they had killed off all life. Then, it would begin cleaning up the world and reintroduce life from plants all the way up to humans, of whom the first generation was grown in glass vats."

The man stares at her with a poker expression, but blinks repeatedly as his blue eyes shine with incredulousness.

"Well now," he finally said in a slow casual tone that hints at his awe underneath. "You clearly know more than you appear to know."

"That I do," Aloy said, then leans toward him with an intense expression. "Now tell me. How is it possible that a person whose kind is now long extinct be sitting right here before me?"

"In order for me to tell you that, I will need to start at the beginning. I should warn you though, it's a long story."

"We got time, now go ahead."

"I'll start by giving my name. It's John Aaron Casey Xavier Smith."

"Ah, that's a lot of names."

"You can just call me, John."

"Okay . . . Jawn."

"Now then. It all started one Fall day . . ."

* * *

 **Note:**

 **Because Old One names would be lost, spelling John as Jawn is to show that the people of Zero Dawn Earth might end up believing it be spelt as it sounds to them**.


	3. Chapter 2

_November 5, 2064_

 _John was riding in his automated vehicle down Interstate Route 79 from Fairmont to the West Virginia University in Morgantown. He sat back in the seat while watching a news broadcast that had been playing for the past two days, making regular news broadcasts sporatic. It involved Aaron Herres, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs of the United States of America talking about Operation: Enduring Victory._

" _The Chariot Line Model is formidible and will require every abled body man and woman to fight with railguns so that we can buy time for our scientists to create Project: Zero Dawn, a super weapon that will end the robots before they can do more damage."_

 _It had all started back on Halloween when there was a news report about a bunch of Chariot Line Models, war robots created by Faro Automated Solutions, over in Indonesia. They were machines that behaved like bacteria in that they could consume biomass to suppliment their fuel and were able to replicate. They had gone rogue and started consuming vast amounts of vegetation and graduated to attacking animals and people, and that they were making more of themselves rapidly. As time went on, the situation grew increasingly worse and there was much discussion on what was going to be done to stop the robots as they showed no sign of stopping. Then came this Operation: Enduring Victory and Project: Zero Dawn._

 _The screen and his focus suddenly went dead, causing John to sit up. He noticed that his AV began slowing down, then turned onto a dirt road; his destination not lying in the direction it was taking._

" _What the hell?!"_

 _With his focus down he could not access his vehicle, meaning that it must be a hack. But the encryption software in these vehicles was supposed to be nearly unhackable; so it had to be the result of powerful technology unavailable to the public._

 _His AV continued driving further down the dirt road and turned off into another dirt road into a more secluded area. A small heliplane came into view through a clearing with its end facing him with an entry ramp now down. Outside it were a group of people who looked to be military, judging by their uniforms. His AV stopped near those people and they quickly encircle the AV. The doors suddenly opened by themselves and a man, their commander no doubt, stepped forward and knelt to address John through the doorway._

" _John Aaron Casey Xavier Smith?"_

" _Y-Yeah, but wha-"_

" _Sir, you're going to have to come with us." The man's tone was matter-of-fact, yet commanding._

 _John froze up as his heart skipped a beat and began beating harder. He glanced around at the men, and women, who stood around his automated vehicle._

" _Sir," the man stated more forcely. "Please vacate the vehicle of your own volition or we will be forced to take matters into our own hands."_

" _Okay, okay! I'm coming!" John stated quickly as he struggled to retain his composure while forcing his body into motion and managed to get out._

 _The commander clasped ahold of his shoulders and turned John around to face his vehicle, forcing John to place his hands upon the hood. The commander frisked him. John's heart pounded away as he tried to calm his breathing._

" _I'm sorry sir but this will have to be confiscated," the commander stated as he casually plucked John's focus off the side of his head._

 _John gasped and flinched as his arms were next forced behind his back. A pair of plastic ziplocks were fastened around his wrists to keep them together. A cloth bag was pulled over his head._

" _Start walking," the commander said as John felt a pair of hands firmly grab hold of his arms on either side and turned turn him around, then pushed him along, his feet barely keeping up with his captors. He soon felt the ramp beneath his feet as he heard his feet clumping over them._

 _He was firmly turned around and shoved down, then felt the seat and hull of the plane against him. He was belted in. The ramp was next heard closing and he felt the heliplane take off. He wondered just who was kidnapping him and why_.

* * *

"Why did they do all that to you?" Aloy asked.

"Because they were desperate," John answered. "And secrecy was of the utmost importance. They didn't want to risk that I might somehow contact the outside world and tell others where we were at, thus creating moral outrage in the citizenry. Now to continue . . ."

* * *

 _The minutes felt like hours to John. He had been wanting to demand was what going on, but knew that he was not going to get any answers, so he had simply sat there in silence._

" _We have arrived at our destination," a woman's voice came over a public announcement system. "Prepare for landing."_

 _John felt the heliplane slow and turn, then the downward motion of it landing in a vertical fashion. Next, came the sudden jolt of having touched down on the tarmac and the engines going quiet. There was a moment of tension and the sound of the ramp lowering, causing the noise of the outside to enter._

" _Okay, Mr. Smith," their commander said from alongside him while the sound of unbuckling seatbelts were heard. John next felt hands on him as his own seatbelt was being unbuckled._

" _Stand." As John felt pairs of firm hands upon his arms, prompting John to stand and be pulled along and walk in tandem with his captors._

 _He was ushered down the ramp and onto the tarmac and was next made to briskly walk. Shouting could be heard all around._

" _. . . What's going on . . . ?!"_

" _. . . Why are you people doing this . . . ?!"_

" _. . . Who are you people . . . ?!"_

" _. . . This is a violation of my rights . . . !"_

 _Not only was he hearing people shout outrages, but also in other languages as well. Whatever was going on, John felt a perverse sense of relief that he alone was not targetted._

 _John felt disoriented as he was only aware of his feet underneath and the shouting around him. He thought he had heard muffled screaming and crying from some distant room._

" _Stop here," the commander said as John was forcibly stopped, then next felt himself being shifted and ended up feeling a cool metallic edge pressing against his calves._

 _John felt his arms being manually steadied then another hand holding something cold and metallic pressing against his hands. At the sound of a snip, he discovered that his hands were freed._

" _Sit," the commander said as hands planted firmly upon John's shoulders pushed him down. John felt as if he were falling until he felt a firm spongy padding underneath his buttocks._

 _The hood was pulled off, giving John a cool breath of fresh air._

" _Hold still for a moment, sir," the commander said as he held a focus up before John's, causing him to comply and have the focus placed onto the side of his head._

" _Hey, this isn't my focus," John said with a frown as he touched it._

" _That's right, it's a replacement," the commander answered dryly. "Now then, you'll be called through that focus and directed where to go. Do you understand?"_

" _Y-Yes," John stammered._

" _Good," the commander said as he briefly patted his shoulder, then turned and walked away with the others._

 _John finally got to look around to see just where he was. He was within a huge room that looked like the waiting room of a clinic. There were lots of people, possibly hundreds, all sitting in row upon row of padded seats. It looked like a waiting room. There were lots of armed guards stationed up by the walls and a set of large metal doors on either end, one of which John had surmised that he must have came through as the other had writing above it that could be read through his focus as an entrance for candidates. He watched a group of a dozen people walk up to the candidate doors, which next slid apart for them to walk through and close. There were even snacks and drinks to be found, even washrooms to one side for whenever someone had to use it. Those doors would slide open to let in groups of people. Sometimes he heard more crying and wailing from within, only for it to go silent. Those sounds of grief sometimes happened when those doors were opened. It happened everytime after a group of people went behind those doors._

 _ **John Aaron Casey Xavier Smith**_ _._

 _A woman called through his focus. His name had come up in bold lettering as a flashing direction icon at the edge of his vision that compelled him to look and see the candidate doors blink with lighting around it. John got up and walked over to it, along with another group of people who joined him. Inside, they were led to rows of seats before a presentation platform and each sat in a spot._

 _The hologram of a very familiar man appeared above that platform._

" _Welcome to Project: Zero Dawn. I'm General Herres,Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs of the United States of America. I'm sure you've heard the rumors. That Zero Dawn is a top-secret superweapons program. The technological miracle that will save us from the Faro Plague, if Operation: Enduring Victory can hold off the robots long enough. The reason I'm sure you've heard the rumors is that I'm the one who spread them. And they are all lies. Zero Dawn is not a superweapons program, and it will not save us. Nothing will save us, and here's why . . ._ "

* * *

"You were selected to work on Project: Zero Dawn?!" Aloy exclaimed with wide-eyed wonder as she clasped his arm.

"That I was," John said. "And I get the feeling that you know about General Herres and what he had to say."

"Yes, and I promise that I will tell you what you want to know after you have told me what I want to know."

John blinks at her for a moment.

"So be it," he said. "But as for what General Herres had said, it was the worst bad news that I had ever heard in my entire life," John said. "I cannot begin to tell you how much it affected me."

"I'll admit that when I first watched it, I was confused. After all, the world still existed. So it made no sense to me really."

"Lucky you. Anyway . . ."

* * *

" _. . . The hope of Zero Dawn is that something new might come after," Herres concluded. "But I will leave it to Elisabet Sobeck to shine that thin ray of light into the darkness. Herres out."_

 _The hologram disappeared._

 _John sat there utterly bewildered over what he had just learned, feeling as if he were outside of his own body. Shocked was too mild a word. Flabbergasted? Stunned? Terrified? No, horrified was the best word. Horrified that these robots will eventually become seven million strong! Horrified that these robots will eventually turn the entire Earth into a toxic wasteland that threatens even the survival of bacteria! Horrified that nothing can be done to stop them! It was like something out of a science fiction movie!_

 _No, not science fiction. Horror._

 _John was startled by several people screaming or crying as they collapsed to the floor._

" _Why! Why were we shown this!" One of the women muffled in dispair through her arms as she lay on the floor. "Why bother bringing us here if it's hopeless! WHY?!"_

 _A man next to him started giggly hysterically. "I-It can't be true," he gasped in a squeaky tone. His smile disturbingly broad and out of sync with his crazed eyes. "It's a lie! It's a lie! Right?! Right?!"_

 _The man jumped to his feet and grabbed ahold of the shirt of a muscular guard and attempted to shake him._

" _IT'S NOT TRUE! IT'S NOT TRUE! IT'S A LIE! IT'S A LIE!"_

 _That staff member quickly sedated the hysterical man with an epipen to his neck. The wailing woman on the ground also got one as well. John could feel his mind seemingly drift away in despair and hopelessness and the surroundings seem to take on a fake quality_.

* * *

"The next thing I was aware of was sitting in a seat facing a woman in a smaller room," John said in monotone. "It turned out that she was a counselor selected to deal with those who heard the Bad News. To clear our minds with conversation before we moved on to watch the Good News. It was a mental venting really. To get the grief out so that we could be more receptive to the Good News . . ."

* * *

 _The counselor across from John was a woman with a pale complexion and red hair done up in a bun, grey eyes in a triangular face, and dressed in a grey blouse with a green skirt._

" _Hello Mr. Smith. How do you feel?"_

" _Ah," as John struggled to find the words. "I'm . . . feeling . . . relieved now."_

" _You were given inhibitors to suppress your stress."_

" _O-Okay . . . ah?"_

" _I'm just a counselor."_

 _John takes notice of some guards nearby, knowing that they were for her protection._

" _So now what?" He asked._

" _Maybe now you would like to comment about the Bad News?" The counselor asked._

" _The Bad News." Then chuckled with a smirk while looking down. "Yeah, that is as bad a news as anyone could ever get."_

" _Do you have any thoughts that you would like to speak of?"_

 _John thought about that for a moment._

" _Yeah," he finally answered with a firmness as he looked up at the counselor. "Yeah I do . . . I wouldn't wanna be Ted Faro. Where is he by the way? He's not here, is he?"_

" _No he isn't."_

" _Good." His tone turned intense. "What a fool of a man! The biggest fool in recorded history! He thought that by creating robots to behave like living organisms, he would be the greatest man in the world . . . ? Stupid . . . ! He created a Frankenstein that got out of control! There's a shitload of science fiction about artifical intelligence turning on us! It's a cliche really."_

 _John sighed while lowering his head and brushed his hands through his blonde hair, then looked back up._

" _But what did we end up doing?" His tone sarcastic. "We go ahead and create that cliche . . . It's like . . . It's like knowing that jumping out of an airplane without a parachute is going to kill you, but you still do it anyway."_

" _What do you mean by, we?" The counselor asked._

" _What I mean is that Ted Faro didn't create them all by himself; he had an army of engineers and technicians to help him. Oh there were people who voiced their concerns over such machines, me included. I remember telling my friends and family that it was a bad idea, and some of them even agreed . . . But what did we all do about it . . . ? Nothing!" As he slaps his fingers into the palm of his other hand for emphasis and continues as such. "All of humanity could have all gotten together and stopped Faro . . . ! But none of us did!"_

 _John groaned as he lowered his head once again and pressed his fingers against his forehead._

" _We duped ourselves," he continued in a somber tone with a brief shake of his lowered head. "We duped ourselves into believing that it was all impossible. That it was only silly science fiction." Then looked up at her. "And now we're all paying the price. And all because none of us made any attempts to isolate Faro from what he wanted . . . You know," as he folded his arms and tilted his head quizzically while staring back at the counselor, "you're awfully calm about this. I mean, you must've watched that holo of General Herres. So you must know more about this than I do."_

" _Does that mean you're ready to hear what Elisabet Sobeck has to say?" The counselor instead answered as a question._

 _John was silent for a moment as he mulled that question over._

" _Yes," he stated firmly. "Let's do this."_

" _Then you may go and watch," the counselor said with a gesture._

 _John left and went into another room like the one that showed the Bad News, though it was more of a corridor. The rest of the people who watched the Bad News with him were also there. They looked as if they had ran a marathon. Their movements zombie-like as they sat in their respective seats to watch another holo._

 _The hologram of a middle aged woman with red hair in a bobcut appeared before them and began her speech._

" _You've heard the bad news, and it's all true. The Faro Plague is devouring the biosphere. Life itself will cease to exist. Global extermination. But does that have to be the end? What if we could give life, a future . . . ?_ "


	4. Chapter 3

"The more I listened to Elisabet Sobeck, the more bewildered I grew," John explained. "After the holo of her had ended, I just sat there totally stunned. Create a supercomputer that will resurrect life on Earth all the way up to humans? The rest of the people with me were just as stunned."

"I know how you felt," Aloy said empathetically.

"I don't know about that because for you it was the shock of learning that life from plants all the way up to humans were not the original lifeforms. But for me, it was the shock of learning that we were going to try and play God. Anyway, to continue. I was taken back to the counselor I previously had . . ."

* * *

" _So what do you think of the Good News, Mr. Smith," his counselor asked._

" _I . . . I really don't know what to say!" His tone husky with shock._

" _Try."_

 _John blinked hard as he sighed and lowered his head and clasped it. He held that position for a moment to reorganize his thoughts, then raised his head once again._

" _This . . . This is like the work of God," he answered. "Religious fanatics would call it a sacrilege."_

" _What would you call it?" The counselor asked._

" _I would call it . . . a miracle. Shutting down the Chariot Line Model, cleaning up the biosphere, and reseeding life from bacteria all the way up to humans will be a miracle. Not even I would have thought of something like that. Would you?"_

" _That is irrelevant. What is relevant is your reaction to Project: Zero Dawn. You called it a miracle. Are you saying that you would like to be a part of Project: Zero Dawn?"_

" _What other choices do I have?" As he shrugged with his hands spread wide._

" _There is medically assisted suicide or detention until the end of the project, after which you would be released from the facility to fend for yourself."_

* * *

"And your option was obvious," Aloy said.

"That obvious, huh?" John quipped. "Anyway, I became a Beta for the Apollo Subroutine."

"A Beta for the Apollo Subroutine?!" As she sat forward with a glint in her eyes and a tone of silent awe.

"That's right, I worked under Alpha Samina Ebadji as one of many Betas whom each oversaw a team of Gammas. The duty of the Gammas was to acquire and code the various pieces of information into artificial fossilized data and present it to us Betas for editing, then we in turn presented it to Alpha Samina and she uploaded them into Apollo. We were split up according to the field of knowledge that we were most familiar with. Mine was history. We spent over a year working on Project: Zero Dawn and the Orbital Launch Site was our headquarters during that entire time."

"Did you ever leave that place during your time there?"

"We did, especially those of us who worked on Apollo, Eleuthia, Artemis, and Demeter because we had to collect the materials for our Subroutines. For the plants and animals, it was the collection of the genetic material from the source. But sometimes Faro robots got to a place while the teams for Artemis and Demeter were there, causing some teams to never make it back. Those of us working on Apollo and Eleuthia on the other hand didn't face that level of danger because what we were looking for were in the cities where the defenses were the strongest for a time. Those being libraries for us and fertility clinics for Eleuthia."

"And then came the day when you were all set to leave?"

"Yes. And it was truly a sad day . . ."

* * *

 _January 14, 2066_

 _Throughout the Orbital Launch Site, people hurried about as they were in the process of evacuating either to Gaia Prime in the case of the Alphas, or to Elysium in the case of the Betas and Gammas as they had people there who mattered waiting for them._

 _For a year and three months, the team of Project: Zero Dawn had worked hard. For those working on the Apollo Subroutine, this meant uploading all of the information that humanity ever accrued. Apollo was created in the fashion of schooling as there was going to be a "leveling up" with the curriculum. When a student had passed a proficiency test with the information they were currently doing, more advanced information would be released to them._

 _Throughout that time, Operation: Enduring Victory had human armies winning battles against the Faro Swarm. But for each battle the humans won, the Swarm won several more because the Chariot Line Model learned and adapted the strategies against them, forcing humans to change tactics every time. And humanity began running out of new tactics against them, causing increasingly more of planet Earth to be turned into both a battlefield and a feeding ground as the ever growing numbers of Kopesh, Scarabs, and Horuses devoured more biomass and laid waste to cities, military assets, and other infrastructure. And all during that time, the conscripts had been deceived into believing that Project: Zero Dawn was a program to create a superweapon to stop the Faro Swarm. They truly had no idea that they were only buying time for those who worked on the Project._

 _As the death toll grew into the billions and the atmosphere became increasingly polluted to the point that an enviro-suit was the only means of living outside, there was much speculation amongst the Project: Zero Dawn team that the conscripts must have suspected that something was wrong. That they had been lied to, or at least suspected that the project had failed to be ready in time. As for the family members of the Alphas, Betas, and Gammas, they were safe and secure in Elysium._

 _John walked down a hallway and stopped before a door to knock on it._

" _Come in," a woman announced with a Swahili accent._

 _John entered and was greeted by the sight of his boss Samina Ebadji. Her office, once filled with knick knacks and curios from various cultures around the world, now empty save for a simple chair that she was to leave behind._

 _Samina was not alone as she was with none other than Elisabet Sobeck. During the past fifteen months inside this place, John had encountered Dr. Sobeck countless times before but never like this._

" _Make it quick," Elisabet stated to Samina, of which she nodded intently._

 _Elisabet headed toward the door of which John was quick to move well out of her way._

" _Ah, Dr. Sobeck, my name is John Smith," he said respectfully, causing Elisabet to stop momentarily within arm's reach. She had a strong sturdy face framed by red hair done in a bobcut and hazel eyes. She looked like she bore the weight of the world upon her._

" _I just want to say, thank you," he continued as he held his hand out. "It was an honor working on this project."_

" _Thank you, John Smith, that means a lot to me," Elisabet said gratefully as she gently took hold of his hand and shook it; then released his hand, prompting John to do the same, and left the room_.

* * *

"You got to speak to Elisabet Sobeck and shook her hand?!" Aloy gasped with wonderment.

"I've noticed this before but didn't say anything about it yet," John said as he stares closely into Aloy's face, "but you do look a lot like her."

Aloy merely smirks enigmatically.

"Now then," John said. "Samina called me down to her office because it turned out that she had news for me. And it was far from good . . ."

* * *

" _John," Samina said , getting his attention, then pointed at the chair. "Please sit. I have something of utmost importance to tell you."_

 _John sat in the chair while Samina stood over him. There was a moment of silence as John looked up at her to see something serious in her face. Something grim._

" _I will get right to the point." Her tone was dour. "It is about your parents and siblings . . . They are not in Elysium."_

 _John felt as if he had been punched in the gut._

" _W-Why?!" His tone came out as a croak._

" _It is because neither of them wanted to go in without the other," Samina answered. "So all four of them volunteered to fight in Operation: Enduring Victory."_

 _John closed his eyes, causing tears to flow down his cheeks. That was the same as saying they had gotten killed._

" _Do you still want to go to Elysium, John?" Samina asked tenderly as she leaned forward to clasp his shoulder._

 _He took a deep breath to clear the tightness in his throat. The loss felt intense._

" _N-No," he said while shaking his head firmly. "What's the point now . . . ? I was going to go there afterwards to be with them. But now . . . Now I have nobody."_

" _I understand." As she released his shoulder and stood. "There are aids here that you can take to die a quick and painless death if you so wish, or go out there and fight them. Either way, goodbye John Smith. It was nice working with you."_

 _Samina strolled past him and left the room, leaving John alone_.

* * *

"Oh, Jawn, that's too bad," Aloy said empathetically.

"How could I go to a place where no one who mattered to me was at?" John said.

"But Jawn if that was the case, then why are you here in our time?"

"Yeah, I can see the irony in this. I guess I didn't wanna spend the rest of my life in an underground facility with nobody that was not family, especially when you weren't gonna be able to create your own after you got there. But as to explain how I got to be here . . ."

* * *

 _John sat there weeping with his face buried into his hands, lost in his grief. His parents and siblings. Gone. This was obviously told to Samina earlier but she chose to keep this a secret in order to keep his cooperation secured._

 _John wept until he calmed. He felt so drained. After a few minutes had passed, he stood up and left the room, walking down the now quiet hallway to return to an area with more activity; or what was left that is as there were fewer Betas and Gammas. These were the ones not going into Elysium because they had nobody there who mattered to them, so they refused to go._

 _The double doors at the back of the lounge opened to reveal five people entering briskly. They wore formal suits with ties, with two of them women and wearing skirts, one of whom was carrying a candy jar like the kind that would be found in a store that contains yellow capsule-like candy._

 _The group was led by a middle-aged man who was White with fair skin, blue eyes, and black hair with grey streaks in his temples._

 _The strangers stop before the crowd of Betas and Gammas._

" _Hello there," the man at their front addressed them in a mellow but firm tone. "I am Silas Crighton, CEO of Far Zenith and I am here on behalf of Osvald Dalgaard, the Spokesperson of Far Zenith, to offer you a chance to potentially experience life in the resurrected world."_

 _The Betas and the Gammas exchange bewildered looks._

" _As you obviously know, the human zygotes in storage are going to be the ones to repopulate the new world," Silas continued. "But . . . what if they were not going to be the only humans in that new world . . . ? What if it were possible for us original humans to live in the Zero Dawn world . . . ? Well, I'm here to tell you that it can be done, through the use of cryogenics_."

* * *

"So that explains why you're here!" Aloy exclaimed as she points at John.

"Wait, you actually know what cryogenics is?!" John marveled.

"I learned about it. Were there any more who were subjected to cry-oh-gen-eeks?"

"There were five hundred of us altogether. There are ten facilities out there across the world, for fifty people each. There is only one on this continent of which I woke up from."

"So there are more Old Ones out there?!" Her tone dripping with greater eagerness.

"I don't think so, Aloy." His tone sad as he slight shakes his head while briefly gesturing with an open hand. "Now let me continue and you will come to understand why . . ."

* * *

 _This set off whispers of shock throughout the group._

" _. . . Cryogenics . . . !"_

" _. . . Is that even possible . . . !"_

" _. . . But the failure rate is high . . . !"_

" _We at Far Zenith, and with the help of Mister Theodore Faro, had managed to create five hundred cryogenic pods," Silas continued._

 _This set off even more astonishment throughout the group._

" _. . . Five hundred cyro pods . . . ?!"_

" _. . . Are we being given a chance . . . ?!"_

" _. . . There must be a catch . . . !"_

" _. . . That must mean Faro has one too . . . !"_

" _. . . Like he deserves one . . . !"_

* * *

"If Ted Faro helped them," Aloy said dourly, "then it can only mean he got one of those cryo pods of his own."

"I know," John grumbled. "And if you're wondering if he or other survivors are out there, you'll soon learn why that may not be. Now to continue . . ."

* * *

" _After we attended to the matters of who amongst the Far Zenith will get to enter the cryo pods," Silas continued, "we decided to leave one hundred of them vacant for those Betas and Gammas who refused Elysium. On our way over here, we were able to learn that there are three hundred and eighteen people in the Orbital Launch Site not going to Elysium . . . That means two hundred and eighteen of you will not be entering cryo."_

 _More hushed whispering with someone being heard noting that they knew there was a catch._

" _So to make this fair," Silas continued, "you will all be tested on who is worthy and who is not."_

 _Silas gestured and the women stepped foward with her jar._

" _That jar contains not candy but three hundred and eighteen nanite capsules fashioned to look as such," the CEO explained. "We had them counted out in a counter on our way here. They are the exact same nanites that the Chariot Line Model uses to feed its machines; meaning that at the push of a button on this device,"as he fumbled around in one of his jacket pockets and pulled out a small black device to hold aloft, "the nanites will devour a person in a couple of seconds, down to most of what you are wearing."_

* * *

"Selection by nanites," Aloy winced. "I understand that not all of you could go into those pods but to actually hear it selected like that is a bit disturbing!"

"It couldn't be helped. And it was the only way to be fair about it. Not only that, but we would have all ended our lives anyway. Just like the ones inside that ruin back near Eleuthia Number Nine."

"That's certainly true. Back when I first fell in there, I didn't know why they all died."

"Anyway, to continue . . ."

* * *

" _However," Silas Crighton said. "Not all of them are nanite capsules. No. There are one hundred duds amongst them. That is, one hundred nanite capsules that will merely dissolve harmlessly. None of use know which is which because they were thoroughly mixed in with the rest of the nanite capsules. So here is what will happen. You are all to line up side-by-side and each of you are to reach in and take a single one out. Then await further instructions."_

 _The Betas and Gammas slowly began to line up single file side-by-side and the woman aide walked down the row and one-by-one each candidate took a capsule, with the John being last in the row and taking the last one. The CEO of Far Zenith took a moment to silently sweep his gaze up and down the row._

" _Now then," Silas finally said. "All of you are to place the capsules into your mouths, underneath your tongue."_

 _The candidates did so, with John feeling the hard cold metal._

" _Finally, I'm going to press the button." As Silas held the remote out like a gun._

 _He pushed the button. Immediately, two hundred and eighteen candidates groan and rapidly disappear into a nanite fog that collapses to the floor and disappears into nothing. The rest, all one hundred, still stood there unaffected as they look down and around at where their comrades once stood, only to see the metal parts of their clothing or focuses._

" _Now that this is settled," Silas said, breaking the silence, "follow us."_


	5. Chapter 4

"What was going through your mind when that Silas fellow pushed that button?" Aloy asked.

"Well," John answered, "you've probably heard it said that at the moment you think you're about to die, your whole life flashes before your eyes."

"Yeah, I've heard that. And they're wrong."

"Um . . . Yeah, your whole death actually flashes before your eyes. I saw myself turning into red goo, then to mist, and finally vanishing. When that nanite capsule merely dissolved in my mouth instead of dissolving me, I felt overwhelming relief. Anyway, we followed Silas Crighton to a waiting heliplane . . ."

* * *

 _The heliplane flew away at supersonic speed. In spite of the Chariot Line Model down below watching the heliplane flying away, they could not discern that there were humans aboard it, due to the electronic shielding that heliplanes possess to render its human occupants undetectable. So while these robots may be intelligent enough to learn from their mistakes and never repeat them, they were still stupid in other ways._

 _As they flew along, the outside looked like a scene from Hell. One year and three months ago the sky was blue with the sun shining brightly; the air and water clean and clear; and the flora and fauna relatively abundant. The Faro Swarm was merely a localized threat confined to Indonesia. Now, the sky appeared to be a mixture of orange and yellow, with the sun appearing like an orange circle. Clouds were red, orange, and yellow that released rain with a pH level on par with vinegar, resulting in waters just as polluted as the air and land. Plants and animals that did not become food for the Faro Swarm ended up dying from a level of pollution that supposedly not even bacteria could tolerate, effectively rendering the biosphere sterile. It was all due to the overwhelmingly thick smog that blanketed Earth, which in turn was the result of the Chariot Line Model having somehow gone renegade and go on to replicate, devouring plants, animals, and people alike without hesitance to now cover the world some seven million strong. It had all come to pass despite the intense resistance humanity had put up against those rogue robots. Intensity that resulted in using nukes. At one point the heliplane flew over an unknown city. Its skyscrapers were broken and jagged with some leaning over. At times, Scarabs and Kopesh could be seen crawling over the landscape below looking like mechanical army ants. Off in the distance, a monstrously huge Horus could be seen crawling over a mountain. Though it was miles away, its long tentacle legs were slowly wavering as it was pulling its massive metal bulk across the landscape. A Horus was a moving manufacturing plant, continuously spewing out Scarabs and Kopesh alike, and even replicating more of themselves in the process. Due to its size and capabilities, a Horus needed the most bio matter for maintenance and production._

 _All over the world, the Chariot Line Model were still crawling around in their eternal quest for something to eat. But they will no longer find anything to eat and soon their hibernation mode will kick in. A mode they will remain in until something edible comes along._

 _The heliplane flew higher until the sky began darkening as it was nearing outer space. The feeling of gravity began to lessen. They soon headed back down and eventually passed through the clouds to land within another instillation. The doors were closed and the porch doors opened. There were many smaller heliplanes to be seen. Upon touching down, Silas Crighton emerged from the cockpit and addressed them._

" _Okay, candidates. This is where the rest of Far Zenith are located. Once we depart, you will all be briefed on what is to happen to you."_

 _The heliplane door opened and they all got out to discover that there were even more people gathered on the tarmac as well. These were the other four hundred candidates. Before them all was another man standing before a microphone plugged into a small speaker nearby of whom Silas Crighton deferred to as he acknowledge that person in question. The man was very slim with a nerdy though pleasant look and lively hazel eyes, light brown curly hair, and dressed in a casual though formal manner with a pair of blue silk trousers, a white silk button-up shirt without a tie, and brown leather shoes. John had seen his image countless times before and knew that he was as well known as Ted Faro._

" _Welcome everyone," the man announced. "Osvald Dalgaard is the name, being spokesperson for Far Zenith is my game." He spoke with an optimistic tone and in an English that hardly showed his Dutch heritage. His introduction was of no suprise either since it was known that the Spokesperson for Far Zenith had a reputation for eccentricity._

" _Let me just say, congratulations to you all for surviving the selection process," he continued. "Now I know you are all eager to undergo cryogenic sleep, but this is not the place where it'll happen. Instead, we'll all be spending the next three days in this facility getting prepped for cryo, starting with a liquid diet. As of now, no more solid food until we awaken from cryo. Instead, we'll all be drinking our food, along with laxatives to help clear out our colons. Then comes a very fun procedure . . ."_

* * *

"It was a colon cleansing," John said.

"A colon cleansing?!" Aloy snickered.

"A tube is inserted up the anus, all the way up through the large intenstine. Water is next pumped up there to flush out any remaining dung."

Aloy laughs and has to catch her breath.

"Wh-Why d-do all that?!"

"It was part of reducing anything unnecessary into the freezing process. Now then, over the next three days breakfast, lunch, and dinner was soup that was little more than broth. Laxatives were also liquid, but tasted terrible. Water was the only beverage. During that time, our upcoming cryogenic procedure was explained to us through the use of holographs."

John goes on to explain that across the world are ten cryogenic facilities, each for fifty candidates, with the one he came out of here on this continent. Each cryogenic pod was a white cylinder measuring seven feet long by three and a half foot wide with a sliding lid with one end counter weighted so that it only needed gravity to open. Its lock was electromagnetic to not only be firmly shut, but also not jam when the time came for the lid to open.

The procedure for undergoing cryo was described to Aloy as first starting with the candidates having all of their hair removed from scalp to feet via nanite shave, then getting dressed in a skintight jumpsuit made from a special fabric whose purpose was to efficently channel temperature changes to better freeze and thaw out their bodies. John went on to explain that they were shown a sample of the suits as two of Osvald's aides, one a man and the other a woman, presented themselves in cold suits. The suits were a grey metallic looking jumpsuit that covered the wearer's body from neck to feet like a second skin, leaving only one of two openings on the backs of the hands for intravenous tubes. The suit had large raised metal indents on its entire back. Those were for plugging into the pod to insure freezing and thawing. On the chest was a bar with raised slots, making this the electrodes for jumpstarting the heart. The cold suits came with a matching balaclava, but with only one opening in the face and that being for the mouth and raised indentations on the back of the head.

"So do you still have your cold suit?" Aloy asked.

"No, the material turns brittle during the thawing process," John answered. "It got torn up simply by my moving around. The pieces are still back where I came from."

John continues on about how they were next told that they would have to lie in the pod, then have two intravenous tubs stuck into either hand and electrodes stuck to the slots on their chest. Next came a respirator tube to be placed into their mouth. Connected to the fifty pods was a simple servitor whose duty was to begin their freezing at the word of whoever was in charge. The cryogenic servitor was a four foot tall stationary control center with a wide light grey table-like top that resembled a thick disc lying on its side and the bottom part a white pillar. The servitor voiced an instruction of there being only thirty seconds to get comfortable. Once the thirty seconds were up, the lids closed. Next the pods removed their occupant's blood while at the same time pumped a biological anti-freeze into them through the other tube. Their blood would be stored in a compartment within the pod, also in biological anti-freeze.

Once that was completed, the servitor would cause the pods to freeze their occupants in an instance at supercold temperatures and kept at that temperature. John did not use temperature measurements because he understands that these new humans may not have rediscovered thermometers, so Aloy would not understand the numerical variation of temperatures.

The pods would next rise and turn upside-down. Finally, the servitor would go into hibernation mode, but were designed to come out of it and start the thawing process if one of two scenarios happened. The first scenario involved a future human discovering and entering the place, especially when they got near the cryo servitor. The servitor would come out of hibernation upon sensing their presence and start the thawing process; since it was stationed in the center of the room, it was impossible to avoid getting near it. The second scenario involved the power cells being close to exhaustion; if there were several days of power left in them, the servitor would come out of hibernation and start the thawing process. The best that could be done to get individual power sources for each cryo pod, and the servitor overseeing them, were power cells that last for up to approximately nine hundred and seventy-four years.

John next explains to Aloy about the thawing process. It started with the pods turning around to level out, then gradually warm their occupants at a low temperature using a low level microwave since it was the only effective means of heating up absolutely every cell of a multicellular organism simultaneously. Once their bodies attained a mild temperature, the pod would shut off its low level microwave and next go to work pumping their blood back into their body, which were oxygenated and heated by regular means to body temperature. Life support would next jumpstart their heart and lungs. Once their brain temperature measured normal, the lid unlocked, causing it to slide back.

"However," John stated in a grim tone and expression to match, "in spite of all the necessary procedures to revive us, we were clearly warned that there was still a 98% probability that we could wind up as a corpse."

"What does that mean?" Aloy asked. "A 98% probability."

"It means that statistically there are ten of us out there now: one per cryo facility. It might seem to be the case with me, since I was the only one out of those fifty who survived."

"So you really are the only one out of that cryo facility up to the northwest then. Then that means that the other four hundred and ninety Old Ones were already dead by the time they had thawed out enough."

"Yes, but statistics only represent an ideal; meaning that there might actually be less than ten, or even more for that matter. And it may be that I could be the only one who was successfully revived."

"And since you also said that your kind would be thawed out if anyone entered the cryo facility, it must also mean that a long time ago people had entered one of those other cryo facilities out there, causing your kind to be thawed and successfully awakened. Then they exited that place and ended up living out the rest of their lives with the locals."

John snickers. "You go a point there, Aloy. For all I know, the rest could've been revived so long ago that they've all since died by now; possibly making my group the last to have been thawed out. But we'll never know . . . Now back to the story. This part is about Dr. Sobeck . . ."

* * *

 _January 15, 2066_

 _The candidates were all in the briefing room with Osvald after he had told them over the public announcement system to assemble there for some very important news. The mood from the spokesperson of Far Zenith could be seen on his face and it was grim._

" _Everyone, I have bad news," Osvald said with matching tone. "Elisabet Sobeck is dead."_

 _Everyone gasped with shock as they exchanged alarmed looks. John felt as if someone dear had died._

" _Actually it would be more accurate to state that she will soon be dead," Osvald continued. "It all started when Gaia Prime's hatch did not form an effective seal and its energy signal began leaking out. The Swarm detected it and was on its way."_

 _Cries of shock and anguish were heard and John felt as if he had been kicked in the gut._

" _Now don't despair!" Osvald announced quickly and firmly while holdings his hands aloft to assure them. "Don't despair . . . ! The Swarm didn't make it and Gaia Prime still stands, all thanks to Dr. Sobeck!"_

 _The candidates calm and express sighs of relief, John included._

" _It turned out that the hatch could only be manually sealed from the outside and the Swarm was closing in fast. So while the rest of the Alpha's were bickering, Dr. Sobeck took it upon herself to secretly don an enviro-suit and did what needed to be done. She then said her goodbyes to the Alphas and left. They told me that her last words were, I'm going home."_

 _The candidates silently mulled that over. John felt both relieved and sad over this. But in awe as the leader of Project: Zero Dawn took it upon herself to sacrifice her own life for this venture_.

* * *

"We were uncertain if that was what really happened," John said.

"Why would you think that?" Aloy asked.

"Because of Operation: Enduring Victory. It was a lie to get the rest of humanity to sacrifice themselves to buy us time. So we couldn't help but question what Osvald had told us, though not openly. But I'm sure it's all true."

"It is."

"What?"

"Ah, please continue."

"Okay . . ."

* * *

 _January 16, 2066_

 _It was night time and the candidates were all in a briefing room with Osvald once again, only this time it was not about bad news. They came here after they had their colon cleansing, of which John found it to be an . . . interesting experience._

 _In the briefing room was a water dispenser with large clear plastic glasses stacked near it. Osvald addressed them._

" _This I will keep short because it is important that you all return to your rooms and get a good night's sleep because you will all be awakened at oh five hundred hours. I have spent the past two days wondering where each of you should go where. I have studied each of your profiles to deduce which one of the ten cryogenic facilities that each of you will be sent to. I am proud to say that I have finished that task. However . . . your destination is non negotiable, so what I have decided is exactly where you will be going. But that I will reveal tomorrow morning after you are all gathered in the hanger." Resulting in a few groans of frustration from the group. "Tomorrow morning when you are awakened, you are to head down to the infirmary for your full body nanite shave. Then you will dress in your respective cold suits, pack your clothing into a small bag, and head to the hanger where I will announce who will be going where. Now before I dismiss you all to your rooms to sleep, let us make a toast; so go and fill a glass with water then gather before the podium."_

 _The candidates did just that. Osvald and his aides also had a glass of water in hand._

" _Let us all raise a glass of water to our coming cryogenic sleep," Osvald said as he does so. "Cheers!"_

 _Everybody repeats, then they all drink._

" _Aaah," Osvald sighed as he lowered his glass and glanced at it. "That was a nice tall cool glass of water we all just had. Now drink up because it will be the last we have up until we awaken from cryo. It is to keep our bladders relatively empty for when we get into our respective cryo pods. And now it's off to bed."_


	6. Chapter 5

"I was awaken at that designated time by a knock on the door then told to go to the infirmary to get that full body nanine shave," John explained.

"What was that like?" Aloy asked whimsically.

"It involved getting completely naked and having a silvery blob put on us composed of nanites. We were assured that those nanites would not damage our hair follicles. That blob then quickly spread all over us and we had to keep our eyes and mouth shut so that the nanites would not get into those places. It felt as if microscopic bugs were crawling into every nook and cranny of my skin, even in my ears and nose. That part was not as problematic as expected because the nanites stuck close to the walls of the nostrils and ears so as not to block them up. I could literally hear and feel the nanites munching on my hair all the way down into the roots. And this went on for a couple of minutes. Finally, the nanites were called off and I was left as bald as leather from head to feet. I was next presented with my cold suit and put it on, then I stuffed my clothes into the bag the cold suit came in and took it with me to the hangar. Osvald and his aides also went through that too . . ."

* * *

 _The smaller heliplanes were lined up side-by-side, each with a sign in front of them that had the name of the continent on it. North America, South America, Europe, and Australia each had only one cryogenic facility. Africa had two cryogenic facilities, one in South Africa and the other in Kenya. Asia had four: Israel, India, China, and Japan._

 _Osvald and his aides stood before them with that microphone plugged into a small speaker and with those planes to their backs._

" _This is it," Osvald said in a serious tone. "Soon, we will be leaving to go to our destinations to undergo our centuries long cryogenic sleep. Each of you will see in your focuses your destination. When you do, line up single file in front of the heliplane that is destined to where. So here goes."_

 _Osvald seemingly fiddled with invisible buttons that he can only see through his focus and the candidates all soon see the name of where they are to go. For John it was North America._

 _The candidates carefully walk through the place to line up single file in front of their designated heliplane._

" _I won't make this long as I want us to get this over with, but at the same time, I do want to say something meaningful," Osvald said in a solemn tone. "Over a year ago, the beginning of the end of the world started as the Chariot Line Model went rogue and began replicating and eating bio mass relentlessly. Dr. Elisabet Sobeck foresaw the end of the world and decided to resurrect the world instead. It was a massive undertaking that all of you helped her to achieve. Hopefully the fruits of your labor will blossom and bring forth a new humanity into a new world. A humanity that will study us and learn all about us. About why our world ended. And here's hoping that all of us survive to give them a first hand account. And now to end this with a moment of silence for the billions of people who died, and life in general."_

* * *

"It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop," John said as he stared off at something distant.

"That's because of all the death that you came to understand," Aloy said.

"Yes, there was that. For a full minute, nobody made a sound. Finally, Osvald spoke . . ."

* * *

" _All right. I will conclude with, this is not goodbye; just see you all soon. Now all aboard."_

 _Everyone boarded their designated heliplane and selected their seats to buckle up. One-by-one, the heliplanes took off and left the instillation. It was slow going as first the porch had to open then closed so that electronic signals would not get out to alert the Swarm as the outer doors opened. Just like when they were flying here, the heliplanes flew high up into the sky heading for their designated spots. That being flying up to where gravity began failing._

 _The North American delegation reached their cryogenic facility and landed inside. The facility was smaller as there was a porch only large enough for their heliplane and the place was lit with LED lighting. The heliplane lands successfully as the hangar doors up above seal shut. The ramp lowers and the heliplane shuts off, signalling the occupants to exit and assemble in a group. A female aide to Osvald Dalgaard addressed them._

" _The cryo pods are right down those stairs," she said while pointing at a large opening with a set of stairs going down. "But before we go through, I have instructions for what you will encounter. There are of course fifty pods down there, all lined up next to the walls. Before you are to enter, you must remove your focus and put it into your bag and place it down by the side of your pod. Then get into the pod. I was trained as a nurse and will insert the tubes into your hands. I will then activate the servitor by voice command and we'll have thirty seconds to get comfortable. Then our lids will close and lock, our blood will be drawn out while at the same time that biological anti-freeze will be pumped into our veins. Finally, we'll be flash frozen. If any of you happen to survive and not me, then it will be up to you to remove your respirator and tubes yourselves. Now then, there is an emergency exit back up that way," as she pointed to the back so that the candidates looked to see another set of stairs, but these go upward to a small platform where there is a runged ladder going up to out of sight. "And finally, there is a spot above the descending staircase seen through your focuses that reads, message."_

 _The word, message, gets a circle appearing around it and the holographic image of Osvald Dalgaard appeared._

" _Greetings, future humans, I am Osvald Dalgaard, the spokesperson for Far Zenith. This place is one of ten cryogenic facilities out there in the world. Behind this door are fifty original humans. Yes, that's right. Original. They are in cryogenic stasis. I too am in stasis, but over in Europe. To awaken those below, all you need to do is enter the place below. There is a servitor that was designed to go into hibernation after we are frozen and then come out of it and thaw us out at the presence of an active human who gets near it. The thawing process should take approximately four and a half hours, but it might be hours before they regain consciousness. When they are ready, the pods will open automatically. Although I should warn you that there is a 98% possibility that they will end up dead. But maybe you could increase their odds of survival somehow, since you will have become so much more advanced with the streamlining of technology. So simply go down these stairs and hope for the best. And hopefully . . . hopefully . . . I will be amongst the survivors over in Europe. Osvald out."_

 _The candidates mull that over for a moment._

"Now let's get this over with _," the aide said._

 _They descend the stairs into a room that was the same dimensions as the one above them and also lit by LED lighting as well. They see fifty cryo pods lined up near the walls. The pods were larger than they appeared on holograms and raised off the floor. Its servitor was perched in the center and would start at a voice command from the aide._

" _Okay," the aide announced. "Choose your pod, remove your focus and put it into your bag, then put it down near your pod and get in."_

 _John chose his pod and did just that. The interior has high relief on the bottom and he surmises that they are for plugging into his suit as the back indentations show. He got in, careful to position himself so that those plugs will fit. He waited with mask in hand. There was an intravenous tube on either side of him, one would lead into a chamber that preserved blood and the other into a chamber containing the biological anti-freeze. Upon being thawed enough, it will reverse flow. The respirator was near his head._

 _The other candidates sat in their pods, with much discussion._

" _. . . I hope this works . . . "_

" _. . . Man but I hope to wake up and see what the world will be like . . . !"_

" _. . . I'm so excited . . . !"_

" _. . . Maybe they'll have things we can only dream of . . . !"_

" _. . . They'll probably colonize the solar system by then . . . "_

 _The aide started with John as his pod was next to hers and she was at the end of the circling row. She told him to put his mask on and he did so, plunging his vision into pitch-darkness. She next told him to lie back so that the plugs will line up. Again he does this. He felt the brief pain of the needles being inserted first into one hand then the other, both getting taped it into place. He next felt the respirator being pushed into his mouth, pressing his tongue down so that it would not end up falling back during unconsciousness to block his breathing._

 _John lay there for a time. The aide continued going around the place hooking up the rest of the candidates. He knew that she understood enough about nursing to put those intravenous tubes into her hands herself, then put on her mask and lie back. He also knew that it would be nothing for her to find the ventilator next to her head._

" _Servitor!" the aid was heard._

 _ **How may I be of assistance?**_ _A pleasant feminine voice said._

" _Password, Frozen Sleep!"_

 _ **Password, Frozen Sleep verified. Servitor recognizes the speaker of password.**_

" _Activate cryo stasis!"_

 _ **Cryo stasis will be activated in thirty seconds**_ _._

 _There is a moment of silence until the servitor was heard counting down from ten seconds until finally._

 _ **Cryo stasis activation for all candidates**_ _._

 _John next heard a whirring followed by a clunk and the lid clinking shut as the electromagnetic locks were engaged. A hum was heard and he felt a slight vibration as he began feeling his blood leaving through one tube and a liquid being pumped into him through the other. Unease overcame John as he wondered if he was going to survive._

 _That unease began drifting away as John felt his consciousness drifting away as well._

* * *

"Did you dream while you were asleep?" Aloy asked.

"No, being frozen physcially also means being frozen mentally," John answered. "I also don't remember dreaming as I was waking up after being thawed out enough. But there was a moment of confusion . . ."

* * *

 _. . . Awareness . . ._

 _. . . Awareness of warmth . . . Warm air entering his lungs . . ._

 _John felt bewilderment, causing him to gasp and shudder as his heart skipped a beat. He started wondering if his mind was still intact, but concluded that it must be since he was thinking. He wondered if he was the first one up or were the others up waiting for him. But he wasn't hearing anything._

 _He lifted his hands, only to groan loudly as painful stiffness raced through his arms_.

* * *

"Apparently that's what will happen when you get frozen like that," John said. "Your muscles seize up."

"How long did it take for you to recover?" Aloy asked.

"It took awhile. But I was still able to get out of that pod long before then. It was just a lot tougher than I had expected it to be . . ."

* * *

 _John summoned his courage as he took a deep breath and slowly reached up while making one long loud groan of pain as his muscles protested against the movement. He pulled the respirator out of his mouth and allowed his arms to drop back down as he made a loud rasping groan. John continued lying motionlessly and gasping intently for awhile until the pain in his arms subsided._

 _John lifted his hands once again, fighting against the painful stiffness, and reached for his face. He dug his fingers into the hole for the respirator and pulled wide, effortlessly tearing the mask apart to expose his face to the cool air of the room. He tried opening his eyes, but felt the sensation of sandpaper against his eyes as he attempted to open them. He deduced that when he was frozen, his tears froze. When he thawed, it caused the surface of his eyes to dry out. Tears were quick to form though and they flooded behind his eyelids, lubricating the surface of his eyes._

 _John was finally able to open his eyes and was greeted with the sight of the ceiling lit by the faint LED lighting. The silence made him uneasy and he wondered if cryo sleep had struck him deaf. He struggled to sit up as he had to pull himself up by using the side of the pod as the feeling of his muscles seemingly to tear themselves to pieces raced throughout his body. He felt the panel rip off the back of his suit, exposing his entire back to the cool air. He sat there for a moment, then took ahold of first one intravenous tube and pulled the tape off, then pulled the needle out, wincing at the pain of having it being pulled out. He waited several seconds and did the same to the other. Next, he tore the gloved part of his suit off his hands and snapped his fingers. He was relieved to have heard the sound. He sat there for a moment as anticipation flowed through him, causing a ticklish tingling sensation to reverberate through his palms and groin._

 _John took a few deep breathes and exhaled, then lifted a leg over the side as he groaned and cursed loudly while gritting his teeth. He stopped to catch his breath as he was halfway over the side. Taking a few more deep breathes to psyche himself up, he turned over as he lifted his other leg over the side of the cryo pod. Knowing that he risked possible injury from simply allowing himself to fall onto the floor, he kept a firm hold of the side as he slowly allowed himself to slide downward. The pain was intense. His toes touched the floor and he continued to slowly though painfully lower himself. Wincing through the stiffness and pain, John carefully lowered himself onto the floor. Once his buttocks were close enough at some couple of inches, he let himself go and flopped painfully onto the cold hard concrete floor, causing him to rasp loudly with pain._

 _John next got into a sitting position with his back against his pod. It was warm, so he sat there on the floor until he felt rested enough to try that again and closed his eyes. His muscles still ached painfully though, but he managed to rip the entire top part of his suit off, exposing his upper torso. He sniffed and opened his eyes to stare at the pod in front of him. He leaned over while reaching out and touched it to find it warm too._

 _John slowly but firmly knocked on the pod. When he did not get an answer, he knocked all the more intently while calling out to its occupant. He next reached up to clasp the rim of the pod he had been in and pulled himself up while attempting to stand. Again, his sore still muscles protested. He stood there bent over with head resting upon his hands while clasping the rim of the pod, forcing himself to endure the pain in his legs as the weight of his being and tension in his muscles aggravated their stiffness. He carefully turned and reached out to the other pod and took a step forward, then stumbled forward to find himself staring down into the pod at the covered form of the female aide of Dalgaard. John reached down with both hands and tore open the neck of the cold suit to expose her neck. He pressed his fingers against the side of her larnyx to feel for a pulse, only to feel none_.

* * *

"It took me a long time but slowly, painfully, I went around and checked each and every one of them for signs of life," John said morosely. "But I discovered that they had all become corpses."

"It's a pity none of them survived," Aloy said empathetically. "But I still cannot help to wonder if it was the same for the nine other facilities out there."

"Same here. Now to continue . . ."

* * *

 _With the legs of his cold suit shredded from the repeated movements he had been making, John casually ripped the rest of it off, leaving him completely naked. He next picked up his carry bag and opened it. He took out his focus and put it on to check the time and date. It was 18:45 and the date was Sunday, March 22, 3040._

 _Next came his clothing. He began the torturous procedure of getting dressed as his muscles had not fully recovered just yet. It was a uniform of sorts that the members of Project: Zero Dawn all wore: a simple shirt and pants that resembled a sports suit, along with slippers. Yet they were colored to reflect the Subroutine they were working on. For Apollo, it was white and grey._

 _Once he finished dressing, John walked around the room scanning the occupants with his focus to see that they all had a blue glow instead of that red one that living warm-blooded creatures have. He walked over to the stairs then took one last look around at the dead and sighed regretfully, then ascended the stairs. At the top, he stared at the heliplane that bought him and the now dead others here and wondered if he could use it to get out of here and entered it. He entered it and made his way to the cockpit, then used his focus to start up the engine. This heliplane was of simpler function since its purpose was to fly the candidates here, making securing such planes a very low priority; otherwise it would have needed more than a focus to use them._

 _John started up the engine so he could get a reading of just where he was and where he could go to for help. Even if the world outside had changed so much, the new humans would have rebuilt the infrastructure and high technology to deal with this heliplane._

 _But nothing happened. Not even the troubleshooting lights, let alone the engine, came on. A further scan of the heliplane revealed the problem. The fuel lines were reading as a solid. It meant that the fuel had coadulated over the centuries, making the heliplane useless._

" _When it rains it pours," John huffed to himself and got up. "It's the escape ladder then."_

 _No, it will be sunset now and night would be coming on. Worse, it was only the beginning of Spring and there will be snow out there, given that he is within the southeastern half of Oregon. He was going to have to wait out the entire night down here in this tomb. John laid across some of the padded seats to rest and plucked his focus off to set on a seat ahead of him. The soreness was also still in him and perhaps actual sleep will do him good. He wondered if it would be possible to fall asleep. The soreness of his muscles and the tiredness that came from the ordeal of being thawed out from a supercold sleep eventually and quickly overwhelmed his consciousness_.

* * *

"I had dreamt about being in a city that suddenly got overrunned by the Faro Swarm," John said. "Of my parents and siblings getting devoured by the red mist that Swarm gave off. Then it switched to Dr. Sobeck talking to a girl, who in hindsight was you."

"What did she say to me?" Aloy quipped.

"I don't know because I woke up. I put my focus on and the time showed that it was dawn."

"You mean those changing numbers that you see in your focus? I see them too sometimes. But I don't really bother with it."

"That's because you weren't raised to be concerned with time. Back in my day, keeping track of time was very important. But to continue . . ."

* * *

 _Sleep had done wonders for John as he felt more refreshed than when he first awoke in the cryo pod and the soreness was gone. He left the heliplane and walked toward the metal stairs leading up. He stopped and decided to check out the others one more time, just in case. Once back down there, he checked them all out once again to be certain that they are indeed dead as he went about that room scanning them and even touching their throats once again. They were also cooler to the touch as their muscles felt abnormally firm. He even tried to move an arm on each of them, only to find it unmoveable, showing that rigor mortis had finally set in._

 _Convinced once and for all that they were truly dead, John returned upstairs and began his ascension to the exit. Once up there, he climbed the runged ladder and reached the top that was a round hatch with a valve wheel. He braced himself and took ahold of the wheel and turned it in the direction it was supposed to be turned as the arrows around it showed. The going was difficult as the valve wheel had seized up from centuries of disuse._

 _He put his all into turning the valve wheel until a thud let him know that the hatch was unlocked. This was it. He was about to take his first breath of air and have his first look around at the outside world, hoping that Gaia had been successful in reclaiming the earth. John took a deep breath and pushed upward with as much strength as he could muster. At first, the hatch did not seemed to want to move, but it did so as the outside air flowed in, along with humus that looked to be a couple of inches deep. Cold air and snow also spilt in. John continued pushing the lid all the way back while exhaling. He then inhaled deeply, getting a lungful of fresh cold air._

 _John looked around to see that he was surrounded by a forest of coniferous trees. The humus having poured in was the result of the entire area around being buried in from what was centuries of the growth and death of plantmatter. With the depth shallow, only grasses, flowers, and other small plants would grow here, making it look like a meadow surrounded by forest. The snow looked to be an inch deep, nothing to get bogged down in. He even heard bird song and calls. Even seeing them fly by._


	7. Chapter 6

"How did you feel when you looked around at all the life you saw?" Aloy asked.

"I felt," John began. "I felt proud. Pround of having done my part to help make all this happen. But most of all, proud that I got to live to see all of this come to pass. Even though I only worked on the Apollo Subroutine, the fact is that it was a team effort. It made me think about the whole terraforming process that was done. It was a complex complicated task to pull off, made all the more so when it was an artificial sapience involved. Cleaning the biosphere was one thing because while it was a very hard task it was at least a very simple one. Once the biosphere was cleaned, then Gaia could reintroduce life in a series of steps from bacteria all the way up to humans."

"So just how did Gaia reintroduce life after the world was cleaned up?"

"That was through Demeter and Artemis. Poseidon's duty was to clean up the waters, not reintroduce life into it. Hephaestus was even put to work too, to give them the machines necessary for their tasks. This happened both on land and in the water at the same pace. It was in a series of steps because each organism needed a long gap of time before the next higher organism could be reintroduced. It was to help them become fully established all over the world. Demeter was put to work first and the first life forms it reintroduced were bacteria. Those that are far too small to be seen with the eyes alone. They are what causes dead life forms to decompose, thus enriching the soil. Once established, then came fungi, lichens, grass, ferns, flowers, shrubs, and finally trees. Once the reintroduction of the Plant Kingdom was mostly complete, Artemis was next put to work reintroducing the Animal Kingdom. It started with invertebrates, animals with no bones, like insects. Not only that but Demeter could also reintroduce the insect-eating plants, but only when there were enough insects established. But back to the invertebrates, the first to be reintroduced were the plant-eating ones; once they got firmly established, the animal eating ones were the next to be reintroduced. Once all of the invertebrates were reestablished, next came the vertebrates, creatures with bones. This is where it started to get more difficult because vertebrates are more complex, meaning it took more effort to raise them. Now while Eleuthia had dealt exclusively with humans, Artemis had tens of thousands of various animals species to care for. Therefore, Charles Ronson decided that Gaia should only reintroduce wild animal species that have an individual adult mass of less than one hundred pounds. The rest were going to have to be reintroduce by you new humans, especially the domesticated ones. But Apollo would have taught you how to do that."

"And just how long did all that take?"

John looks upward in thought as he attempts to calculate that. "I'd have to say . . . over a," shaking his head slightly with shrugging and making a humorous frown, "three hundred year period, maybe?"

"Wow, I never realized just how much work Gaia had to put in to reintroduce life. But thanks to Ted Faro, we won't be able to reintroduce the rest." Her tone gruff.

"Maybe in a few hundred years when your people have rediscovered enough of your past. Anyway, I was wondering where I should go to next. After all it was still cold with snow and I wasn't dressed for it . . ."

* * *

 _John got out and closed the hatch, causing it to make a loud metallic bang, then sealed it shut once again. Snow got into his slippers as they were not meant for outdoor wear. He straightened and this time looked up at the sky. It was sunrise as he could tell by the clear sky, then stared around as he wondered which way to go. He stared out over a slope that rolled downward to below into more forested landscape._

 _His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of rustling nearby and looked to see a blue and silvery robot in the shape of a pronghorn deer, causing John to gape in astonishment at it. That was when he realized it was one of the machines that Gaia designed through her Hephaestus Subroutine to help clean Earth's biosphere. He scanned it with his focus and could see a trail of triangles all pointing in a direction. The robot animal walked along that trail and it became obvious to John that it was a path to it._

 _The robot stopped to stare at him. He could see that it had a large single blue light for an eye in its head. That blue eye changed color to yellow then to red and began making a metallic growl and stalked toward him. A sense of danger overcame John and he ran away before the robot could get too close. The robot did not give chase_.

* * *

"You were lucky," Aloy said. "A Lancehorn's horn can easily puncture flesh."

"That was only the beginning of my troubles with the machines I encountered," John said. "Then there was the time of year and my dressed as if it were a warm Summer day. I was hungry too. What made it all the worse was that I didn't know where to go . . ."

* * *

 _John continued walking in a direction that he was unsure of. His hunger pangs began acting up and the hint of thirst began forming in his throat. That was when he thought to hook his focus up to a satellite relay and did so; only for the words, no satellite relay, to come up. That puzzled him because although the original satellites would have all fell back to Earth centuries ago, the new humans should have launched more satellites into orbit._

 _As he walked, he encountered more of those animal robots, and more varied than the one he had encountered back there. All of them were blue and silvery with a large single blue light for an eye. Some were shaped like ungulates, with some resembling cape buffalo, and some were shaped like small dinosaurs. One of those dinosaur like robots took notice of him with that cyclops eye that suddenly went from blue to yellow to red as it made a loud metallic squeal. That dinosaur began stalking toward him with its head low and making a metallic growl as well. John ran away from it and came to an understanding that not only would these robots not allow people to approach them, but will also attack them too._

 _He kept running, wondering if he will be found before he succumbs to hypothermia._

 _John was exhausted upon arriving at another hill. He crested it to see more of those silver and blue robot animals mulling around, with some of them "grazing"_.

* * *

"That's when I began wondering why Gaia's robots were still functioning after all this time," John said.

"Why did you wonder about that?" Aloy asked.

"Because the Plant and Animal Kingdoms are now thriving along with you new humans. It means that Project: Zero Dawn was more or less a success. One of Gaia's protocols was that once the first new humans were fully educated, she was to order all machines to return to their nearest Cauldron for decommissioning. Anotherwords, the machines were to be scrapped. Gaia's robots are not needed anymore."

"Then . . . Then it must mean that when Apollo was unable to educate us . . . Gaia decided that we could make use of the machines to help us survive. So Gaia permitted us to hunt the machines."

"That's what it seems. Otherwise if Apollo had been functioning, the new humans could have easily had the Cauldrons reconfigured to help them recreate the machines that we once used to recreate our civilization. Now then, where was I?"

"You stopped upon losing your breath as you were up on a hill and wondering why Gaia did not have the machines recalled."

"Oh yeah. Now with my hunger pangs still acting up, I kept walking . . ."

* * *

 _After an hour of walking, John was beginning to feel thirsty and kept a sharp lookout for a brook to drink from. He even used his focus for the task. No wind meant no wind chill factor, so he was not going to freeze to death, at least not right away._

 _That was when John heard something and stopped to listen. He heard it again; they were thumps that repeated themselves every couple of seconds. Not wanting to stand around and think that it was something coming to attack him, he continued onward at a more brisk pace. He came upon a dirt trail before him devoid of snow but made muddy. He felt hopeful that it was going to lead him somewhere, maybe to a civilization of some sort. He walked down that dirt trail while staring down at it and could see a multitude of large hoofprints in the dirt. Whatever made them was huge and apparently used this trail frequently. He began noticing that the thumping got progressively louder._

 _John noticed something moving through the trees up ahead. Something huge and it was coming toward him. Once it got close enough and away from any tree cover, he could see that it was a huge robot animal walking down the path toward him that was in the form of a giraffe but with a flat head like a disc. He was quick to get out of this robot's way as its footfalls made the ground vibrate, but the large animal robot casually walked past him and paid him no more attention than if he were an ant. John scanned the robot and discovered that it really did make this path as the arrows looped back to it, meaning that it never deviated from this route._

 _John sighed with relief and continued his journey._

 _The morning became progressively later as the sun rose higher. It even got a little warmer. He hoped the sky would remain clear until he found help, and that it would still remain daytime. He came upon a brook and scooped up handfuls of water to drink. It was sharply cold and bland, but he kept drinking handful after handful until he felt sated. That and his hands started growing numb from the cold. It also aggravated his hunger pangs. He continued on his way, managing to cross the brook upon rocks at a shallower point._

 _The day continued progressing and still no sign of civilization. He encountered more of Gaia's robots, and again he had to avoid them. The warmth melted the snow into patches._

 _It was the afternoon when John emerged from a clearing and saw a dirt road. He gasped with relief and hurried over to it. More of Gaia's robots were nearby engrossed in their directives. John studied the tracks and wondered if it was made by one of those giraffe robots he saw back there. The road was long and relatively straight and he would not have to walk through any snow as his feet were already cold and wet._

 _John looked up and down the trail to see if such a robot was coming or leaving, only to see none. But he did see someone walking up the road, as in away from him. He felt both amazed and relieved to learn that the Eleuthia Subroutine was a success._

 _John hurried up the trail toward the person in question. Perhaps they could help him. As he continued getting closer, he began noticing more detail about them. They had a basket on their back. Their manner of walking suggested a woman._

" _Excuse me!" John called out to her._

" _That's far enough!" the woman shouted as she whirled around to face him with a knife in hand held aloft and ready to stab_.

* * *

"I don't blame her," Aloy said dourly. "You really shouldn't try to approach someone from behind, especially when they're travelling alone."

"Hey, I didn't know that you new humans were living that way," John countered.

"Did she attack you?"

"No, but it was going to take time for her to gain my trust . . ."

* * *

" _Whoa! Whoa! Take it easy! I'm not gonna hurt you!" John exclaimed with his arms spread wide and hands open as he slowed his walk._

 _The woman in question was actually a teenaged girl. She was tallish with a slender build and had a fair blue-eyed elfin face framed by long light brown hair held in a low ponytail slung over one shoulder. She wore a green long sleeved shirt covered in chain-linked embroiderment and with a slit going slightly down the front neck to make putting it on easier. She also wore a necklace with what looked like white metal links on a string, along with another that resembled a cord. The shirt came down to her knees just above a pair of knee-length boots that looked like bindings and held in place with a wide belt made of braided neon blue plastic. Her knife was a dagger and the blade looked to be a few inches long. John noticed that she was not wearing a focus._

" _What do you want?" the girl demanded as she continued sizing him up with a glare._

" _To ask for directions to the nearest town. I got lost."_

" _There's a town nearby. It's called High Hopes. I live there."_

" _W-Well, seeing as we will be heading in that direction, I was wondering if-"_

" _Walk ahead of me." As she circles around him with her dagger still pointing at him._

" _Okay, ah, th-thanks." As he walks ahead of her._

 _They walk in awkward silence with John at the front and the girl close behind him with her dagger still held aloft. A wind blows briefly and John shudders from the chill of it._

" _Why are you dressed so lightly for the cold?" the girl asked._

" _I got lost," John replied._

" _Where are you from?"_

" _I just got outta cryogenics this morning."_

" _Cry-o-gen-eeks? Never heard of the tribe."_

" _Tribe?"_

" _You know. Your family, kin, and people who all share the same things with you."_

* * *

"That was when I began to feel that something wasn't right," John said. "With the help of Apollo, you new humans should not only have leapfrogged from the starting point that had been my world's latest advancement, but also politically to the point that tribes would not have been able to form. Hopefully you would've had a world government by now."

"A world government?" Aloy mused.

"We Old Ones had yet to advance to that point but it would have meant that the whole world would have been ruled by a single government."

"How would that even be possible?"

"Technology. The more advanced a people become, the faster communications become and the faster and more cheaply they can travel from point A to point B. If we had advanced to the point of a world government, then it would mean that almost anyone could have been able to communicate with somebody halfway around the world as readily as if they were only a few feet away, and also be able to travel halfway around the world nonstop as quickly and as easily as it would take an able-bodied person to walk from here and back to those ruins you found me within."

"Anotherwords with one of those heliplanes your people once had," Aloy said. "I saw one of them intact up in a place up in the Cut when I went to look for something for a Banuk Shaman."

"Air travel hadn't advanced to that point yet, but at least you understand. Anyway, to continue . . ."

* * *

 _John stroked his bald scalp as he sighed for an answer. "I . . . don't know how to answer that."_

" _Well, does your people all wear that type of garb or only the men?" the girl answered as she gestured at his outfit with her dagger._

" _That's . . . complicated. I'll need to know certain things first before I can possibly tell you what you need to know."_

" _Fine then. What is it that you would like to know?"_

" _Well for starters." As he stopped and turned to face her, prompting her to stop with dagger at the ready with grim expression. "How about your name? My name is John. John Aaron Casey Xavier Smith." And held out his hand to shake hers._

 _The girl instead stared between his hand and his face repeatedly as if wondering what he was up to. She tossed her dagger into her left hand and slowly extended her right hand; only to bypass his hand and clasp his forearm._

" _The Oseram greet others this way too," the girl answered in a more relaxed manner as she sheathed her dagger. "But we merely greet others like this." As she bought both of her hands up to her chest to cross over her heart and extend them towards to him._

" _Um . . . I see," John said over both her strange greeting and wanting to know who these Oseram were._

" _And my name is Gearo. Thraen Merei Gearo."_

" _What sort of names are those? Spanish? Italian?"_

" _What tribes are those? And what kinda name is Jawn? It don't sound Oseram. And besides, Thraen is my father's name and Merei's my mother's name. And those other names you gave me, what were they again?"_

" _Aaron, Casey, and Xavier. Those are my middle names. Smith is my surname."_

" _Really, the Oseram have surnames too. I'm not sure about . . . middle names."_

" _Does the names Gaia or Apollo mean anything to you?"_

" _Never heard of them. Are those tribes as well? Personal names even?"_

" _Elisabet Sobeck? Ted Faro?"_

" _Never heard of them. Are they suppose to be chiefs?"_

" _Project: Zero Dawn?"_

" _What is that?"_


	8. Chapter 7

"That was when I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that something had gone wrong with the Apollo program," John said. "I had my suspicions when I first told her my name, because the name John and the surname Smith used to be so common that any male named John Smith was encouraged to have at least two middle names."

"I don't have a surname or even a middle name for that matter," Aloy said. "Rost was the one who gave me my name. Of course the High Matriarchs were present. And I doubt that anyone else would give that name to another baby girl."

"There is always a possibility that someone may have the same name as you. That was how surnames evolved. It was to distinguish one person from another who shared the same name. Surnames were derived from land features, professions, physical characteristics, or even from being the son or daughter of someone."

"I suppose that's what happens when you have lots of people," Aloy said.

"True, so very true. Now then, to continue . . ."

* * *

" _Never mind," John answered glumly. "I was just talking about things that only I understand."_

" _You didn't tell me where you're from yet, Jawn," Gearo said with a smirk. "So where are you from?"_

 _John took a deep breath as he thought of how to answer that._

" _West Virginia," he finally answered._

" _You're from the west? Is it true that there's a giant lake out that way?"_

" _A giant lake?"_

" _Yeah, it's suppose to be a lake so big that you cannot imagine its size and is undrinkable due to being so full of salt, and yet there are supposed to be fish living in it! Machines even! I heard that there are people living near it, but I've never been there. It's much too far away to walk there, and you need to pass through the Barrier Mountains in order to get there."_

 _John understood that Gearo was talking about the sea, the Pacific Ocean to be exact. The fact that she did not call it by either name means that these new humans are basically ignorant of Earth's topography._

" _What do you know about people who lived a very long time ago," he next asked._

" _Are you talking about the Old Ones?" Gearo asked._

" _The . . . Old Ones?"_

" _Yeah, they were the people who created the Metal World."_

" _The Metal World?"_

" _Yeah, their ruins are supposed to be everywhere. Are any of their ruins around where your tribe lives? There are none around here as far as we know, but artifacts of their world have been found. The Oseram are the ones who really do the most finding since they live to delve those places. When my father was a boy, he found one of their artifacts."_

* * *

"That's when I felt what could only be best described as a mixture of loss and wonderment," John said. "My world became lost to your kind and yet I'm amazed that it had become like the lost civilizations that I had learned about back in school. Tell me, Aloy. What do the Nora believe about the end of my world?"

"They believe that in the beginning, both humans and machines lived side-by-side in harmony," she answered. "Then the machines convinced the Old Ones that they will do more and more things for them and the humans agreed, but not all humans agreed with that and it was believed that they were the ancestors of the Nora. Then a king rose amongst the machines called the Metal Devil. The Metal Devil wanted to conquer all and tried to convince the rest of the humans to join him, but they still refused. Then the Metal Devil decided to wage war upon the ancestors of the Nora and a battle began. But the All-Mother came to the rescue of the supposed Nora ancestors and struck down the Metal Devil and robbed the machines of the minds, reducing them to beasts."

"Lovely tale. And not that far from the truth too."

"The Faro Swarm was thorough in its destruction of your world."

"But what disturbs me even more is how Apollo had failed to do its task. Since you seem to know about Project: Zero Dawn, maybe you could tell me what happened to Apollo."

"Yeah . . . I believe I can."

"But anyway, let me continue . . ."

* * *

" _Hey, there's a Watcher," Gearo said getting his attention at that small dinosaur-like robot up at the side of the road. "Stay close so it won't see you too."_

" _What do you mean?" John asked._

" _I have a device my father made. He only finished it last night and wasn't sure that it would work. He calls it a machine blinder because it makes you unseeable to machines."_

" _Really? That's good then because I was almost attacked by them. Why are they attacking people?"_

" _Because of the Derangement, what else?"_

" _The Derangement? What's that?"_

" _Are you serious? Then again, your tribe was probably too far away when that volcano erupted."_

" _Okay, now I'm all confused, Gearo."_

" _Fine, I'll start at the beginning. There was a time when the machines would simply walk or run away from any person they encountered, kinda like the animals. But that all changed twenty years ago, which was a couple of years before I was born. A massive volcano had suddenly erupted far to the east. From then on, the machines began turning hostile to people. Worse, new machines began to appear. Those whose purpose is to fight people."_

" _I think I understand now." Although he was unsure as to how a volcano could cause Gaia's machines to attack humans._

" _The hunters would've wanted to go after that Watcher."_

" _So you hunt them?"_

" _Well yeah. You can get good parts from them, and not just its metal hide mind you. Then there are the Broadheads and the Lancehorns too. They also give good parts. Ah, but you'd already know that. Now shut up and stay quiet or else the Watcher will hear us and figure out that there are people here and attack."_

 _Gearo and John quietly walk past where the Watcher was roaming. John scanned it to see that its trail took it away from them, yet it was still too close to be casual in their manner, so silence was in order. They manage to walk past it and get far enough without alerting its attention and continue onward down the trail toward her town. This time John was walking alongside Gearo, who had long since sheathed her dagger._

 _Once Gearo and John got far enough away, they talked some more. John learned that her tribe was called the Harguess and her tribe's territory covered a small area that extended down the road to other hamlets and villages. High Hopes was the larger and more of a trading town since it was near the edge of the Claim, Oseram territory._

" _So who are these Oseram?" John asked._

" _They're a tribe of tinkers and forgers who live in a place they call the Claim," Gearo answered. "They like to build things out of machine parts and delve the ruins for whatever they can find. If you want something repaired, go see them. They like to drink scrappersap, alcohol made from corn that they also use to strip the grit out of a gearwheel. And they just love to argue. They'll argue over any little thing and claim that it helps like air in a forge. I think my father must have an Oseram for an ancestor because he likes to tinker with machine parts as well. Though he doesn't argue like them though."_

" _That sounds . . . interesting." As he understood that these Oseram could clearly use high technology. "Any other tribes out there?"_

" _The Oseram speak of a tribe that live to the south called the Carja. Supposedly, the Carja have a city built on top of a flat hill and are ruled by a man they call the Sun-King. There's another tribe called the Nora. They shun anything that has to do with the Metal World, including the ruins within their lands. Up until a couple a years ago, the Carja were ruled by an evil Sun-King who raided other tribes for captives so that he could have them killed in some sort of place to captured machines."_

" _Ah . . . okay." Unease in his tone. "Have they ever raided this far then?"_

" _No, but according to the Oseram, the Carja did raid up into the Claim. That is up until a couple a years ago when that evil Sun-King was overthrown by his own son, who in turn became the new Sun-King. He did away with what his father had done."_

" _That's good then."_

* * *

"That was when I understood that without the education of Apollo, you new humans had reverted to tribes," John said. "Something that is to be expected since humans, whether it was us Old Ones or you new ones, are natually territorial and have a strong affinity for identity. But hearing about the casual brutality that these Carja used to engage in I found really disturbing. Something like that was not known in regular society way back when."

"But the Carja have gotten better since Sun-King Avad came to power," Aloy said.

"Yeah, that does count for something. Anyway, after what seemed like an hour of walking, I saw a high wall with an open gate up the road . . ."

* * *

" _Is that High Hopes?" John asked._

" _Yes, it's the largest community of the Harguess and home to a few hundred people," Gearo verified._

" _So it's a capital then?"_

" _You say a lot of strange things, Jawn. But it is a trading post."_

 _They enter High Hopes and John was able to have a better look around. Her people were everywhere outside, either walking alone or in pairs or more, sitting with friends and family, or doing whatever tasks they were doing. The houses were of uniform appearance as they were rectangular with peaked rooves and covered in metal plates and their doors had a porch attached to them that also had various metal decorations hanging from them. Items like wooden barrels were around, along with various metal impliments. He took note of the various animal machines that were hung up over frames like animals that were being skinned, except in this case they were being scrapped for parts._

 _The people were dressed in a mainly uniform fashion that made use of cotton, linen, and leather as the females were dressed much like Gearo with those chain-linked patterns upon their tunics and matching embroidered belts of blue plastic. The males wore shorter monocolored tunics that to reveal their matching trousers, though with differing colors on their colars and cuffs. Footwear for both genders consisted of boots, due to the current climate and the mud. The Harguess were a diverse lot of European, African, and Asian peoples._

 _There were carts to be seen, all of which were two wheeled with a pair of beams protruding out from them that would be attached to an animal and pulled. John then realized otherwise upon seeing two men pulling such a cart by their beams side-by-side. In fact, there were no large animals to be seen, save for whatever small animals that were already dead and had been stretched across frames to be skinned such as dead boar, fox, or rabbit._

 _Those people began taking notice of Gearo's return, especially since John was with her and he could hear them talk about him._

" _. . . Who's that with Gearo . . . ?"_

" _. . . Where's he from . . . ?"_

" _. . . Those are strange clothes. They're not of Harguess design . . . "_

" _. . . Definitely not Oseram either. So what tribe's he from . . . ?"_

 _John followed Gearo down streets that were nothing more than trampled mud, making a bigger mess of his slippers and feet. As usual people would stare at John and comment about him, with some even asking Gearo who he was. But Gearo would dismiss them by simply telling them that his name was Jawn._

" _Here is where I live," Gearo said as they arrived at a house._

 _They walk up the porch and Gearo opened the door. John stood there but she turned to look at him._

" _Come on in," she said assuredly._

 _John walked in with her, feeling relieved over the warmth of the interior, and she closed the door. He looked around to see that despite having Gaia's robot animals prowling the world outside, the interior is primitive. There were even candles up on a shelf. Everything was made of wood, but there were metal implements to be seen. And even what looked like animal heads up on a wall that are actually those robot animals._

 _Two people pause in their task of having moved a large wooden table to look up. They were a man and woman who look to be in their forties. The man is East Asian, possibly Chinese, and the woman is White with a slender face, blue eyes, and blond hair held in a braid hanging down her back. Seeing how they must be her parents, it came to John that Gearo was Eurasian and has her mother's complexion, though her mother has a more tanned one due to years of sun exposure._

" _Ah, Gearo, you're back," said the mother. "Who is this man you bought home with you?"_

" _His name is Jawn Smith. I met him on the road after he got lost." She then turned to John. "These are my parents, my father, Thraen, and my mother, Merei."_

" _Please to meet you, Mr. Thraen and Mrs. Merei." John said as he extended his hand only to catch himself upon remembering Gearo's reaction._

" _Mister and Missus?" Gearo asked._

" _Ah, it's a . . . title I use when greeting a man and a married woman," John explained._

" _Something of your tribe then?" Merei asked._

" _Ah, yeah," John said._

 _That was when the door opened again and a boy and another girl entered. The boy looked to be in his early teens and the girl younger. Both children were dressed in much the same attire and each resembled Gearo, though the younger girl had darker hair and the boy lighter._

" _This is my brother, Doren, and my sister, Breo," Gearo said. "Guys, this is Jawn Smith. He was lost and I met him on the road."_

 _They greeted each other._

" _What tribe are you from?" Doren asked. "You're definitely not an Oseram."_

" _I'm from," John struggled for an instance, "West Virginia."_

* * *

"What is this West Veer-geen-ea you had referred to?" Aloy asked.

"It was a state that was actually far to the east," John answered. "It was named that because it was west of another state named Virginia."

"State?"

"It was one of fifty states that made up a country called the United States of America. The mightest of the two hundred nations that once existed back then."

"Wow, Cyan told me that there used to be billions of people back in those days. I still find it hard to wrap my mind around there being so many people organized into that many tribes with such massive territories."

"It was possible with proper farming methods. By the way, who is Cyan?"

"She's an artificial intelligence that I helped save, but I'll tell you about her later. It turns out she was created before Gaia was."

"Now I remember!" Snapping his fingers in realization. "Those who created her were recruited to help with the creation of Project: Zero Dawn! But to think that she's still around . . . ?! Anyway, on with my story . . ."

* * *

" _I've heard that there are supposed to be tribes living by a giant lake of salt water that's beyond the Barrier Mountains," Merei said._

" _I got lost in the woods and came upon Gearo," John said. "I asked her where the nearest place was."_

" _Well . . . would you like to have supper with us?" Thraen asked._

 _As if to answer her question, John's stomach growled. "Yes," he replied anyway._

" _We're having roasted boar with chestnuts, mushrooms, and leeks," Merei answered._

" _There's the washroom in the back," Thraen said as he thumbed toward a door. "Be sure to remove your shoes."_

 _John removed his shoes and went into the washroom. It was a primitive one with a washpan, a metal can full of water, and a box-like toilet across from it with a lid on it. He lifted the toilet seat and saw that it went into a deep pit, plus the smell wafted up for a moment. He hoped that their water was separated from this._

 _He saw a bar of soap next to the wash pan and was relieved that they at least rediscovered soap and he washed his hands in the pan of cool water. He dried his hands off in a towel and emerged. The family took turns doing that as well. Merei, Gearo, and Breo set out cutlery and cups. Drinks were poured up and food was served on plates. Slices of boar meat with roasted chestnuts, mushrooms, and leeks arranged on it. John felt a little uneasy at having to consume flesh straight from an animal. Throughout his entire lifetime the only meat he ever ate was the vat grown variety. Raising livestock was already obsolete by the time he was born._

* * *

"Growing meat?" Aloy mused.

"We had the technology to take a cell from an animal and grow it like a plant, bone included," John explained.

"Why?"

"Because back in my day most people rejected the idea of using animals for food and whatever products they could get out of them."

"That's weird, why should it be wrong to make use of animals? Animals do it to other animals all the time."

"I think . . . it's because you new humans are closer to nature than we Old Ones once were. The more we advanced, the further we got from nature. And the further we got from nature, the more we began to question our involvement with it; many humans by my day were strict vegetarians, they didn't eat or use anything that came from an animal. Of course that was of the vertebrate ones mind you. Honey was still eaten. And there were even cricket farms too."

"You Old Ones were a strange lot."

"I suppose to you guys. But to continue . . ."


	9. Chapter 8

_The family including John all sat at the table._

" _Let us now give thanks to our ancestors," Thraen said as he closed his eyes and crossed his hands over his breastbone, of which the others do the same; prompting John to do the same as well._

" _We thank our ancestors for watching over us, helping us with the hunting, gathering, and farming. We thank our ancestors for our health. We pray that they continue to watch over us. Praise be."_

" _Praise be," the rest of the family echoed, and eating began in earnest._

 _John first took a swig of drink. "What's this?"_

" _That's blueberry juice," Gearo answered._

" _So you pick blueberries just for their juice?" John asked._

" _Not just their juice but also to make cakes with them," Gearo answered. "We can have some after supper."_

 _John started eating the vegetables before moving onto the meat._

" _That's an interesting earring?" Breo said upon taking notice of John's focus, as he would wear it as an earring._

" _Thank you," John said, feeling strangely relieved that they didn't recognize a focus._

" _So where are your people exactly, Jawn Smith?" Merei asked. "The . . . Veer-geen-ea tribe was it?"_

 _John thought about that carefully as he slowly chewed to give him time to think about how to answer that, then swallowed._

" _They're," he began slowly. "They're . . . gone now."_

" _Gone?" Merei asked. "Where did they go?"_

 _John hung his head, not knowing how to answer that and instead let them draw on their own conclusions._

" _When you mean gone, do you mean that they're all dead?" Merei asked._

" _Yeah," John said softly with a repeating nod. "Machines killed them all."_

 _The family look around at each other as they had paused in the midst of their eating._

" _How?" Thraen asked._

" _I . . . I'd rather not say," John instead gasped._

" _So be it," Thraen nodded. "You can stay with us."_

 _John was startled by their answer. "A-Are you sure that's okay?!"_

" _Of course it is," Merei said gently. "But we do expect you to help us."_

" _Oh absolutely," John stated. "What do you need done?"_

" _We'll get around to that when the time comes," Thraen said. "But for now. Welcome to our household."_

" _Th-Thank you," John said graciously._

 _John looked down at that piece of boar meat, then cut it. He picked up a forkload, gingerly put it into his mouth, and started chewing. The idea of this having once been a living animal began diminishing due to the situation he found himself in. He could no longer get picky about the food that will be served in this household. He finished off the boar meat and had that piece of blueberry cake. Later on, he cleaned his teeth using floss that came from the delicate parts of machines and were great for getting in between teeth without shredding. They did use toothbrushes, but instead of toothpaste they used that scrappersap Gearo had mentioned. Instead of drinking it, the Harguess use it to clean their teeth with it. John winced at the strength of the alcohol within it, finding it hard to believe that it was actually meant to be a drink._

 _When the time came to go to bed, a simple roll was laid out on a sofa and a blanket and pillow were offered to him. They bid him a good night and went to their respective rooms. Even though this house was small, there were two bedrooms, with the three siblings sharing one as he had seen that both sides were partitioned off. Their parents bedroom was next to theirs._

 _John removed his focus and wrapped it in a piece of cloth. He next tucked it into his pocket and laid upon the couch and covered up._

* * *

"I thought about my world, my people," John continued in a contemplative tone as he looks off to one side at something distant. "All gone . . . now a legend to you new humans."

"Did you tell them that you're an Old One?" Aloy asked.

"I wanted to, and I was willing to go so far as to prove it by leading them to that cryo facility . . . But I didn't."

"But why not? If I were an Old One I don't think I would stop talking about it."

"You may think that but you have to put yourself in my shoes. I wanted to start a new life. Not only that but they wouldn't have believed me. There was no chance of me finding that Tallneck let alone that mountain I was inside of."

"That makes me wonder about any other Old Ones who might have come out of cryogenic sleep. If any of them did survive, are they currently boasting that they're one of the Old Ones too?"

"I wonder about that too."

"So how did it go for you with Gearo and her family?"

"That I won't ever know because two days later . . ."

* * *

 _John was helping Thraen in his workshop when Gearo entered._

" _What are you both working on?" Gearo asked._

" _I'm helping to make another machine blinder," John answered. "You know . . . since these Oseram are tinkers of machines and devices, I find it odd that they never invented one of these. Given that they've invented a number of things that I thought lost."_

" _Lost?" Gearo asked._

" _As in what the Old Ones once had," John said upon realizing that he had gotten nostalgic._

" _That's certainly true," Thraen said. "When I was a boy, I found one of their artifacts. It was this piece of metal over here." As he went over to a section of the workshop and pulled up what looked like a flat rectangular piece of metal, though rusted._

" _Gearo did tell me about that," John said. "But can I see that for a moment?"_

 _Thraen handed the piece of metal to him and John discovered that it was a license plate off of an automated vehicle. Though rusted all over, John could make out the plate number on it._

" _I found that further up the road when I was with my father out hunting machines," Thraen continued. "It was in an area near a lake. We were staying on what was an unusually flat strip of land and set up camp. I dug in the dirt and found that metal plate."_

" _Do you know what it might have been?" John asked, curious over what Thraen's answer may be._

" _I was thinking that it might be an identification number for a machine of some sort," Thraen answered._

 _John looked down at the plate. "Yeah, I think so too."_

 _That was when a loud rumble was heard, followed immediately by an equally loud crash._

" _What was that?" Gearo sneered._

" _Let's go see," Thraen said._

 _They run outside and look upon something large that had arisen from underneath a section of the walls of High Hopes. Dirt and sections of the wall cascade off it like a waterfall. John's eyes widen along with his mouth as more of the dirt and debris fall away to reveal an only too familiar machine in all of its horrifying glory._

" _A KOPESH?!" John screamed as his heart skipped a beat from the bewilderment and horror that now flood him._

" _What kind of machine is that?!" Gearo exclaimed._

 _Just down the mud street, something else rose up. Something smaller, but no less familiar to John. A Scarab! John watched in horror as the Scarab released its dreaded red cloud of nanites that descended upon a man to instantly envelop him. He watched and heard with a mixture of awe and horror as the screaming man went silent and the red cloud lost the humanoid shape it had taken on then returned to the Scarab, leaving nothing of the man behind. The Scarab released more of its nanites onto more of the people around; as did the Kopesh as John had seen a red cloud of nanites leaving it as well._

 _That was when more Scarabs came racing in past the Kopesh through the massive gap in the wall it had created._

 _John felt as if he had vacated his body and was now outside controlling it. He turned and ran, only for his legs to suddenly feel as if they had turned to jelly and he collapsed to hit the ground hard, but was quick to get up onto his hands and knees and speed crawl into Thraen's workshed. He did not stop crawling until he hit the wall underneath a worktable. There was a loud crash and the shed came tumbling down, trapping him underneath the table, which ended up protecting him_.

* * *

"I just laid there," John said in a monotone of shock with a thousand yard stare. "I just laid there and heard nothing but screaming and Kopesh cannons blasting away . . . I kept thinking . . . This is it, we're all going to die and the world will end a second time, forever. On and on the crashing and sound of machine movement went. After a while I realized that I wasn't hearing any more screams. Then before I knew it, it got quiet."

"That's because I purged Hades," Aloy said in a tone to relieve him, then turns dour. "I just wish that I had been quicker to do so."

"At least you stopped it, that's what's important. Anyway, I crawled out of the wreckage and looked around at the Chariot Line Model that had stopped working. I walked over to where Gearo and her father had stood. But all I found was the machine blinder," as he takes it out to show, "along with pieces of trinkets that the nanites couldn't digest. At first I thought it was broken or turned off, but it wasn't."

"That means it didn't work on the Chariot Line Model."

"Maybe it has to do with it being designed to counter Gaia's robots." As he looks it over then puts it back inside his tunic. "Because Gearo's father never had the Chariot Line Model in mind."

John looks away for a moment and makes that thousand yard stare. "I thought I would never have to see any of the Chariot Line Model ever again. But now here there are." Then snaps out of it to gaze at Aloy. "Anyway, where was I . . . ? Oh yeah . . . I next went in search for any survivors . . . But there were none. I was the sole survivor in that town. So I spent the rest of the day scavenging for supplies. I found a backpack and put a small tent, trail rations, a canteen for water, and a change of clothes. I also found a spear."

"And then you left."

"Yes, but that would be the next day. I spent the night in Gearo's house, or what was left of it. I was up early the next morning and walking out of there, due east since the Claim was over that way. I keep wondering why Gaia allowed Hades to restart them. I mean, this biosphere is perfect for us humans. So I don't get it."

"Why would Gaia want to allow Hades to restart the Faro Machines?"

"Okay, what I have to say is something that may be disturbing, but you're a big girl, so here goes . . . The Faro machines were only meant to be shut down, not destroyed. The reasoning was that if the biosphere had turned out to be all wrong for humans, Hades was to awaken the Faro Swarm and let them do their thing all over again."

Aloy gapes in shock and begins speaking in a low but intense and bewildered tone. "You mean to tell me . . . That this world we are currently living in . . . might not have been the first world to have been brought back . . . ? That there could have been more worlds before Gaia got this one right?"

"That was the plan, but it seems that Gaia got it right the first time after all. And judging by the date in my focus, my world ended nearly one thousand years ago; given the tribes that now exist, I don't think any of them could have gotten to their current level in half the time between now and back from when the vat grown humans were released into this world. Which by the way would have been . . . several hundred years ago maybe?"

Aloy blinks in thought over this.

"So Hades wasn't needed after all." Frustration was in her tone as she looks away.

"No, I guess not . . . But to continue . . ."

* * *

 _John walked along as his thoughts were in conflict over the horror that was supposed to have been lost forevermore. Along the way he encountered more Faro machines. The now defoliated trees and other vegetation around gave cause for concern. He wondered if all seven million of those monsters really came back to life._

 _John's thoughts were interrupted by Gaia's robots nearby walking about or doing their tasks but oblivious to his presence; though at times they did turn their head in his direction upon hearing his footfalls. With this Derangement going on, he wondered why Gaia allowed their hostility to humans in the first place. He patted the inner pocket of his new tunic where the machine blinder that Gearo had worn to ward away machines was stored._

 _He stepped on a twig, causing it to snap. A nearby Watcher squalled and looked in his direction with its blue eye now yellow. The other machines had also looked in his direction as well. John and machine stare each other down, then the Watcher's eye went back to blue as it turned its head away to continue on its path as it could not see John. The other machines go back to whatever they were doing too._

 _John sighed with relief over now realizing that the machine blinder still works, if only against Gaia's machines. He next scanned the machines to read their pre-programmed trails, seeing it as a line of pulsating triangles with its tips pointing in the direction it will be taking. Unlike animals, machines will follow a predictable route and will only improvise if forced to. He was relieved to see that their trails did not lead them anywhere near him and will eventually lead them back into the forest._

 _He continued along once again, albeit slowly and cautiously. He hoped to get far enough away from those machines so that he could continue walking more casually. He should soon reach that placed called the Claim, a territory that belonged to the Oseram tribe._

 _By midmorning, he reached the Oseram border. He saw the glyphs on a rock and scanned them to discover that he was able to read them_.

* * *

"Wait, you could actually read those glyphs?" Aloy asked. "Does that mean they're the same glyphs your people used?"

"Actually it has to do with the focus' computing power in that it must be scanning and processing the glyphs from a human perspective, regardless what type of human writing system there is," John answered. "All writing is based on symbols that humans try to convey to other humans. Now as for what those glyphs read? It declared that the land up ahead was the Claim . . ."

* * *

 _John entered the Claim proper and approached a village. He saw that these Oseram built their houses like cones. He also saw that Scarabs and Kopesh had also arisen throughout this land as well. As he got closer to that village up ahead, he saw that some of those houses got smashed up._

 _As he entered that village, he noted the various Oseram scurrying around to attend to both the damage and injuries. If there were any deaths, they would have to be the corpses of those who got crushed in those wrecked homes._

" _Hey, you!"_

 _John looked to see one of those Oseram men walk up to him. He was White with brown eyes and brown hair cut short, along with a merely clean-shaven chin and wore clothing that was suited for working at a forge._

" _Did you just come from High Hopes?" The Oseram man asked._

" _Y-Yes, yes I did," John stated._

" _Did those machines rise up in High Hopes too?"_

" _They did."_

" _Was anyone killed?"_

" _I'm the sole survivor."_

" _Fire and spit! So are ya goin' to Meridian too?"_

" _Meridian? What's Meridian?"_

" _It's a city. The capital of the Sundom, the domain of the Carja. Just keep on this road for another week and you'll come to a place called Broken Hill. Then turn and go south and you'll come to the gates that seperates the Claim from the Sundom. Just beyond it is a place called Pitchcliff that marks the halfway point between here and Meridian. Then it's another week of walking and you'll get to Meridian."_

" _Okay, I'll keep that in mind. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be going."_

 _John passed more Scarabs and Kopesh, along with the various Oseram checking them over. He thought about this city called Meridian. It must have been that Carja city that Gearo had mentioned. He felt intrigued as he wondered just how far these new humans had come in order to recreate civilization._

 _It also sounded like a good place to make a new life for himself._

 _The day progressed onward as the sun climbed ever higher into the sky. The day warmed but a cool breeze blew. The Claim was a cool landscape in terms of temperature as there was still snow about the place. Evergreen forests are throughout the landscape, though many of them had since been cut down by the Oseram to fuel their forges. Deforestation could become a serious issue if the Oseram at least don't take the initative to plant more trees than they take. He kept encountering more of those Kopesh and Scarabs, with some even blocking the road. At one point, he watched a group of Oseram fighting a machine that looked like a large hunting cat. The Oseram proved to be a match for it as they were wearing armor and used cannons that shot arrows into it that tethered it to the ground, along with hammers and axes to bash it up. The Sawtooth finally fell over in a shower of sparks amid Oseram cheering. No doubt that machine will provide resources for those Oseram._

 _John continued walking and encountered more of Gaia's machines. As expected, they do not see him due to his machine blinder. Along the way John had a snack of roasted chestnuts and figs. He also drank some water out of his canteen. The thought of taking two weeks to travel to this Meridian seemed overwhelming._

* * *

"Why would that thought be overwhelming?" Aloy asked.

"Because back in my day, most people didn't walk long distances, especially if they wanted to get somewhere," John answered. "Instead, they used other faster means to do so. Not only that, but before the invention of trains, automobiles, and aircraft, the quickest way over land was through the use of domesticated animals."

"Like horses."

"So you know about horses?"

"Yeah . . . I found out about them."

"Anyway, to continue . . ."

* * *

 **Note:  
** **Aloy's knowledge of horses officially means that this is a (sort of) sequel to Breath of the Dawn.**


	10. Chapter 9

_The day was clear and mild as John continued walking on the trail that wound through the hilly landscape, dotted by the odd grove of trees. At least those that the Chariot Line Model did not consume. He even encountered dead trees whose size showed that they must have started growing long before the Chariot Line Model was ever invented. There were streams with simple bridges across them that were bound with blue cable. He passed through the various villages and hamlets that dotted the trail. Each of them had Chariot Line Models that had arisen from the ground. Its denizens also suffered from their attacks as well. They took notice of John and asked if it was the same up the trail, of which John verified._

 _John continued walking, hoping to travel as far along as he could and get into a village where he could spend the night within, and ideally all before sunset. Given that the wilderness had since become a more dangerous place than back in his day, and that the only mode of land travel was by feet, the land had to be peppered with hamlets and villages with inns to stay in._

 _It was late in the evening as he happened upon another Oseram hamlet. It was here that he decided that he would spend the night. And a good thing too because his legs were starting to ache. He hoped that he had enough shards for it._

 _He looked for a larger than usual building as he had learned while passing through the hamlets that Oseram inns also functioned as ealdorman meeting rooms, so it needed to be large as important stuff also went on in them. He found just such a building and did a brief scan to see the colored shapes of people inside sitting around at tables, along with a long bar in one area. He felt satisfied over having found the place and entered. The smell of scrappersap was heavy in the air. Oseram men and women sat around at wooden tables, talking, eating and drinking. Instead of a festive mood it was more somber, no doubt due to what had taken place._

 _John walked up to the innkeeper at a bar, a Black man with pitch-dark skin and a bald crown. He would have had a full beard but his chin was clean shaven, something that John had come to notice upon the many faces of Oseram men he had encountered._

" _Is it possible to get a room for the night?" John asked._

" _Sorry," the innkeeper answered in a gruff voice. "Ever since those machines popped up out of the ground and went on a rampage, my rooms have been taken over. And I doubt you'll have any luck with any of the other inns elsewhere in the townships. Care for a drink instead?"_

" _What can I get for ten shards?"_

 _The innkeeper took out a small glass and filled it with a bit of scrappersap, then filled the rest with water._

" _Thanks," John answered as he offers the ten shards. "And where are the latrines in here?" Remembering that that is what the Harguess called toilets when he had stayed with Gearo and her family._

" _They're down that hallway," the innkeeper answered as he points to one side long enough for John to take notice._

 _John took a swig of the drink. Even watered down, the scrappersap was strong enough to cause him to wince and groan with a wry face._

" _Did you just come from High Hopes?" the innkeeper asked._

" _Yes," John answered. "But it was wiped out and I'm the only survivor."_

" _That's too bad," the innkeeper said, then left it at that as he walked away to tend to something else._

 _John thanked him and headed toward the latrines. Afterwards, he exited the tavern and searched for a place to pitch his tent. He could see that there were a number of tents about the place, given the destruction that the Chariot Line Model had caused. He searched for an ideal spot and pitched his tent. It was a small simple domed tent that was large enough for one person and their gear, or for two people without gear. The fabric was waterproof and the door was a vertical slit high off the ground to prevent insects from casually crawling in and an overflap to prevent rain, snow, or wind from entering. Inside, he rolled out his sleeping mat and laid upon it._

 _With little else to do, John tried to focus on going to sleep. It was difficult to do with Oseram still going about the place._

 _John awoke and checked the time on his focus to find that it was oh five hundred and fifty-four hours. He was able to fall asleep after all. Even though there was a chill in the air last night, his pilfered clothing was able to keep him warm after all. He decided to get up and get going. Once outside, he could see that the sky was clear as the stars and half moon showed. He packed up the tent and had some travel rations to eat. He hoped that the sky stayed clear until he reached Meridian, but understood that he needed to assume that he will be traveling in unagreeable weather._

 _Hefting his backpack onto his back, he looked in the direction he must take and sighed._

* * *

"And so went my journey through the Claim," John said. "Not a day went by that I didn't encounter more of those robots I thought I would never have to see ever again. I also passed more of Gaia's animal robots as they went about their work or simply paced about the landscape, especially the new models whose purpose was to hunt humans. And as always, the machine blinder hid me from them. I passed more Oseram on the trail and learned from them about the damage further ahead, and also told them the same things back up the trail. I passed through more hamlets and villages that had also suffered damage and loss. Whenever I rested for the night it was to pitch my tent because as it was, the inns in the various hamlets and villages were filled with the homeless. As I am sure you're also used to having to answer the call of nature out there on the trail with having to duck away from the road and into the forest and all. Though where I was traveling through, there wasn't much of that. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to be seen from a distance squatting down? And don't get me talking about the mess I had to clean off! Leaves only go so far in that task, you know. The weather also did not always cooperate as there were days when it not only snowed but rained as well, and at times with strong winds to boot. Fortunately, I made the right choice in the clothes that I took from High Hopes. The thing about the snow is that it would've been too warm for it to fall this far south at this time of the year back in my day."

"So was it warmer back in your day?" Aloy asked.

"Yes it was, and it was due to global warming. Though ironically it could cause extreme weather events that also included cold and snow earlier than expected as well. It fact, the earth was getting warmer by the decade because we were polluting it with carbon dioxide and it was feared that earth would become a hothouse where it only snowed in or near the polar regions, those being at the top and bottom of Earth respectively. That fear became irrelevant because the Faro Swarm had turned the world into a hothouse. But on with the story . . ."

* * *

 _John reached another village. Like the rest he had passed, there were more Chariot Line Models idling about. He next felt cause for concern when he noticed that a nearby Oseram man had done a double take at him and briskly strode toward John with an intent stare while fishing around in his pocket._

 _The man pulled something out and placed it onto the side of his face to show that it was a focus, much to John's surprise._

 _The man stopped before John, who could see that the man's focus gave off a yellow color._

" _Where did you get your focus?" the man demanded in a low tone._

" _I could ask you the same thing," John answered._

" _Fine, mine was given to me. And yours?"_

" _Same here."_

" _And clearly not by the same people since ours are giving off a different color light."_

" _You're the first person I've met who has a focus! Am I the first person you've met to have one too?"_

 _The man was silent for a moment as he stared back at John._

" _There are others, aren't there?" John whispered as he leaned slightly toward the man's face._

" _Yeah," the man said reluctantly. "But if you're gonna go look for them, know this: only one of them is a good person. The rest are scum. Though I doubt any of the scum are still alive."_

" _So who is this good person you met with their own focus?"_

 _For a moment, the man did not answer as he stared back at John. He had a look of uncertainty, almost as if . . . he was hesitant to answer._

" _A Nora girl," the man finally answered._

" _Nora?" John asked._

" _She's a member of a tribe called the Nora. They live to the east of the Sundom. It's strange that she has a focus because the Nora shun the ruins of the Metal World, along with its devices. They consider them cursed."_

" _What's her name?"_

 _The man remains silent._

" _I'm not gonna do her any harm," John insisted as held his hands aloft._

 _The man's look softens. "Aloy. Her name's Aloy."_

" _Aloy of the Nora. What does she look like?"_

* * *

"Describe him," Aloy said.

"He had light skin, bald, brown eyes, and a mustache and sideburns," John answered. "He wore an armless vest and had a large circle tattooed on the side of his left upper arm."

"Olin."

"What?"

"His name's Olin."

"You know him?"

"Yes, but I'll tell you about him later. So how did Olin describe me?"

"As having a strong study face like an Oseram lass and red hair full of braids."

"Yeah, I guess that must be an accurate description of me."

"Have you ever looked in a mirror?"

"What's a mirror?"

"It's a sheet of glass with a super reflective surface for looking at yourself in."

"Oh, you mean a looking glass . . . No, I've never seen one before. But I've seen my reflection on the surfaces of metal that was shiny enough."

"Anyway, to continue . . ."

* * *

" _I think I saw her mother too," Olin answered. "Or at least a woman who looked a lot like Aloy. It was up in Maker's End before a huge metal door."_

" _Describe the door," John asked._

" _It's inside a cave with a huge platform leading up to it. The door is huge, round, and black with red beams of light in it. And fire to my soul, when I stepped up to it I heard that woman's voice from out of nowhere saying, 'hold for identiscan', whatever that means. Then a red beam of light shone over me. That's when I saw that woman's image, along with an image of a twisting ladder. The unseen woman next said, 'genetic profile not confirmed. Entry denied', whatever that means."_

* * *

"But I knew what that meant," John stated. "It meant one of the facilities for Project: Zero Dawn."

"Did you think of going to Maker's End?" Aloy asked.

"You bet I did. I decided right then and there to go pay a visit to that place and find out what I could before going to go to Meridian. I then bid that Olin fellow a good day and left . . ."

* * *

 _John continued on his journey as he thought about this turn of events. So there were others out there with focuses in their possession! As for this place called Maker's End, it definitely sounded like a facility for Project: Zero Dawn. And of course Dr. Sobeck's image will be in it, since her DNA takes precedence due to her being the Alpha of Project: Zero Dawn. This Aloy of the Nora also piqued his curiosity since she also has a focus of her own and apparently bore a striking resemblance to Dr. Sobeck._

 _John passed through or stayed at various Oseram settlements. The smell of smoke from their forges, the repetitive clinking of their hammers from being attached to waterwheels, and their arguing began to typify the Oseram even more. Like the Harguess, they were a racially diverse lot yet seemingly all of the Oseram he had ever seen were mesomorphic, naturally large boned and muscled. More machines were encountered, both of Gaia and the now dormant Chariot Line Model alike. Oseram started scrapping those machines and this made John concerned as they might try to tinker with them and inadvertantly duplicate Ted Faro's technology._

* * *

"I took it upon myself to warn any Oseram I saw scrapping them," John said. "I was so concerned that I didn't care if I ended up giving away my origins. I just wanted to make them fearful of tinkering with those Faro machines."

"Yep, those Oseram really love to tinker with machines," Aloy said dryly. "I get the feeling that they'll be the ones to resurrect the Metal World, probably even the technology of the Faro machines. So what did you tell them?"

"That those machines ended the Metal World. Of course, they challenged me over how I would know that, so I asked them if they had ever seen such machines before, to which they answered no. I also pointed out that those machines just rose up out of the ground after being buried for so long and that if they go tinkering with them, this world will wind up like the Metal World and we will all go the way of the Old Ones. That always seemed to cause any Oseram to pause and think about that. So to continue . . . It was an overcast morning when I reached a town called Broken Hill and asked which way to the Sundom and was pointed south. I didn't have far to walk when I reached a large metal gate of bars built into a passage through a cliff. I knew that this had to be the border to the Claim as I was told that it was a large metal gate grating . . ."

* * *

 _John walked up to it and clasped the bars to look out beyond them. He could see a settlement off in the distance looking like a typical Oseram settlement. Beyond that John could see relatively flat rocky treeless land with a river cutting through it as far as his eyes could see. Along with more dormant Scarabs and Kopesh._

 _He opened the gate and walked through, closing it behind him. He found it strange that no one was guarding this gate and that it was not locked. It must have meant that the Oseram were confident that no one was going to invade. That thought made him remember those Red Raids that Gearo and her family had told him about._

 _John decided that he would rest for a lunch after reaching that settlement. There he will learn more about Meridian, and possibly this Aloy._

 _He walked down the trail and arrived at the settlement. He asked a local the name of the place and learned that it was called Pitchcliff. Satisfied with that answer, John looked for a place to sit and have a lunch of travel rations. He watched as the Oseram go about their business while he ate and took a drink of water. He caught snippets of their conversation . . ._

" _. . . There are so many of these damned Corruptors and Deathbringers . . . !"_

" _. . . How many of them are there . . . ?!"_

" _. . . I've heard they popped up as far away as the northern area of the Claim . . . !"_

" _. . . But what caused them to stop . . . ?!"_

 _Upon finishing his lunch, John decided to figure out where this Maker's End was located before asking directions to Meridian. He looked around wondering who to ask and decided upon a man with a black heavy handlebar mustache and wearing furs with a leather hat looking like a crown that marked him as an ealdorman._

" _Excuse me," John said to get the ealdorman's attention. "But do you know where I can find a place called Maker's End?"_

 _The ealdorman looked John over. "Not from these parts, are ya? Must be from that Harguess tribe to the west, given your garment an' all."_

" _I came from High Hopes," John answered._

" _High Hopes, eh? You've come far in order to go to Maker's End."_

" _So where is it?"_

 _The ealdorman pointed toward the open land south. "Down that road is a fork in the road. Take the one on your right and stay on it because it'll take ya right into Shattered Kiln. It'll take a day ta get there though. It used ta be a bandit camp built upon a Metal World ruin until it was cleared out and now proper people live there. Then go past it and into the mountains where further in you'll encounter a bunch of ruined towers and palaces. That's Maker's End. It's high up in the mountains, so there'll be cold and snow. There used to be Shadow Carja up there, but I think they all got cleared out like the bandits."_

 _John thanked the ealdorman and left Pitchcliff, heading down the road. To the south was land that stretched out further than his eyes could see that was once called the American Southwest. It was a land of reddish stony soil covered with sage, cacti, and other vegetation associated with the region. More Faro machines, silent and still were seen dotting the landscape, along with Gaia's machines as they traversed over its terrain. Another river ran south then curved through a canyon that could be seen off in the distance. He took the road going off to his right, making it west. He encountered machines called Shellwalkers that resembled giant fiddlercrabs as they stacked large octagonal tanks that they had on their backs. He was unsure of what their purpose was but kept on walking. His machine blinder kept him invisible to these crab-like machines. Come to think of it, that ealdorman was matter-of-fact in mentioning them, meaning that they were only a threat if you attacked them._

 _John walked with the mountains to his right and the river to his left. Beyond that river stretched the hilly landscape. He could see the animal robots that dotted the landscape in various places. Worse, were the Faro machines scattered throughout the landscape silent and still._

 _John trudged onward, keeping the mountains on his right and by evening approached a walled town as the road led directly into the place. Its wooden walls were blackened with equally blackened posts jutting out of them. The road led directly into that place and he entered. There were people walking about the place, Oseram and Carja alike. A merchant was nearby. The new community was clearly built upon a ruined concrete building with its large rusted steel girders protruding out bent and broken at various angles. Nostalgia overcame John as he stared at that ruined building._

" _Never seen a ruin from the Metal World before, stranger?" A man quipped, snapping John out of his nostalgia._

" _Um, is this Shattered Kiln?" John asked._

" _Yes, it is," a woman with the man answered. "It used to be a bandit camp up until a Nora girl cleared out the bandits."_

" _A Nora girl? Describe her."_

* * *

"A strong study face like an Oseram lass and red hair full of braids," Aloy quipped.

"Er, yeah," John agreed humorously. "Although she didn't use those words exactly. Kidding aside," as his tone turns serious while leaning forward, "did you really killed all the bandits in Shattered Kiln all by yourself?!"

"Actually, I had help from a guy named Nil. He was a strange guy. At one point he suggested that we try to kill each other, but I offered him a different suggestion. That he should go to Meridian and help defend it against the Shadow Carja for when they attack. He did show up and did do his part."

"Ah, okay. Anyway, to continue on . . ."


	11. Chapter 10

_John exited Shattered Kiln as he headed toward Maker's End. It was sunset by the time he reached the snowline up in the mountains. It was colder too, but his clothing could handle it. John wondered if he should rest for the night. He could see the light from the setting sun reflecting off the ruins up ahead. John was eager to see if he could find anything from his past in there._

 _Twilight continued fading as John traversed over snow that was halfway up his shanks with dead grass poking up through it in various places. He arrived before a tiny dilapidated two-story building. He decided to take shelter and set his tent up inside it. He had a snack of travel rations and drank some water before crawling into his tent for the night. Despite the cold, he was able to stay relatively warm._

 _It was almost sunrise as John crawled out to have another travel ration and soon packed his tent away. Before leaving, he decided to go upstairs and checked to see if he could find anything up there, only to find nothing other than an empty metal box._

 _Upon going outside, he took notice of what looked like thin rods that he had failed to notice yesterday. He saw that they were actually two arrows as their feathered ends showed. John next noticed a shape beneath the snow and walked over to clear it away, only to fall back in fright upon seeing that it was a man's arm._

 _Gingerly, John crawled over to clear away more snow to see that it was indeed the corpse of a man. He was dressed in a black and red tunic and leggings, and had a bow and arrows on him. John noticed another thin rod sticking up out of the snow nearby and went over to clear away the snow to also find a corpse dressed in the same manner_.

* * *

"Ah, yeah, I did that too," Aloy said sounding somewhat embarrassed.

"What did they do to you?!" John sneered with bewilderment.

"They attacked the Sacred Lands. I'll tell you the rest of the story once you finish telling yours. But I snuck in there and took them out one at a time and as quickly as possible before any within view could raise the alarm."

"Wow, you're a ninja!"

"A what now?"

"Ah, it was just some sort of mystic assassin. We never took it seriously. Now as I was saying . . ."

* * *

 _The sun rose to cast its light upon the snowy ruinscape. John looked up at the point of his destination that consisted of towering buildings, broken and ragged from both the Faro Swarm and the ravages of time. He began walking toward those ruins when a shape buried in the snow before him revealed to be a Watcher. It had been destroyed as there were arrows sticking out of it. Just past it was a large wide pit with simple wooden scaffolding around the place with fencing around its edges and walkways spanning it. There were barrels and crates around the perimeter. John also noticed the outline of more corpses on the snowy walkways and no doubt there will be more down in that pit, but were buried by more snow that had fallen. The ones he did see had arrows sticking out of them, many of which had only one arrow and in their head. This showed skill in archery. He continued further in and came upon another pit dug out in the same fashion as the previous, along with more destroyed Watchers stuck full of arrows._

 _John wondered about the presence of these machines here amongst these humans, since these machines hated humans. So just how did these people function amongst these machines? He also figured that there had to have been a battle here._

 _The question became even more bewildering when he came upon the broken carcass of a Scarab. It certain did answer the question of the Watchers since he knew that the Scarab had the ability to hack and enslave other machines to their grid; however, the Scarab would have seen the humans as food, along with the plants and whatever animals around there too after noticing rats running around below._

 _His progress was halted by a high concrete barrier. There were what looked to be large yellow bolts on it, but a closer inspection showed that they were handholds. Taking a deep breath to psyche himself up, John jumped upward and clasped the first bolt. He hung on for only a few seconds and was forced to let go as he was not strong enough to pull himself over._

* * *

"I climbed up that without any effort," Aloy boasted.

"But I never lived a life you have," John said. "I doubt many people back in my day could have climbed up that as easily as you did."

"You Old Ones were soft."

"Yeah, well that didn't stop me from getting up there. I managed to find a way around that . . ."

* * *

 _Past that barrier of sorts, John found himself walking upon a path surrounded by a forest of ruined buildings. He stopped and looked around at the huge shattered buildings. His throat tightened and tears ran down his cheeks as he found himself remembering the past all the more intently. All of it now gone. He took a deep breath and sighed to focus on the task at hand. He continued further into the ruins in question as this place began tugging at his memories. It was not like he had been here before, only just that he remembered seeing this place on tv once._

 _He turned left and saw a large enclosed depression beyond the ruined walls of buildings on either side of him and a double drop before him. He gauged that he would be able to climb back up and decided to carefully jump down. He walked out into the large enclosed area and was confronted by the sight of a Kopesh, wrecked like the rest of the machines around here as there were arrows sticking out of it. Along with more corpses about the place._

 _John scanned around and noticed something big and round in a cave up ahead. He entered and was confronted by a wall. At first he felt disappointment, only to notice purplish mist around the corner of it along with tiny triangles floating in the air, denoting disturbance._

 _John walked over to the purplish mist to find a crevice in the wall. He knelt down and stared closely at the ground. Through his focus, he noticed footprints. There were multiple footprints, meaning that there were plenty of people who had gone through there. Seeing as it was passable, John pressed his back to the wall and slid through sideways. It was a bit of a tight squeeze as he had to exhale as much air as he could so that he could pass through._

 _It took him only a few seconds to get through and arrived within a wide open area with a high platform before him where a huge round metal door with red glowing lines of light is located._

" _So it really is one of the access doors!" He gasped aloud._

 _John quickly climbed up the side of the platform and stood upon it before the door._

 _ **Hold for identiscan**_ _._

 _A disembodied feminine computer voice sounded, startling John since he had not heard such a voice in centuries. It amazed him that it still worked and he stood there as a red light shone over him, scanning him from head to feet. Or more accurately, scanning for any exposed skin on him in order to read his DNA. The images of a spinning strand of DNA and of Elisabet Sobeck appeared, along with the numerical value of zero percent._

 _ **Genetic profile not confirmed. Entry denied.**_

" _My name is John Aaron Casey Xavier Smith!"_

 _ **Name not recognized. Entry denied.**_

* * *

"Was there a Beta registry?" Aloy asked.

"Yes, along with a Gamma one too," John answered.

"Then why would that place not recognize you?"

"That I won't speculate on until I hear your story after I'm done, because I get the feeling that it might answer that question. Anyway, to continue . . . I demanded what the name of that facility was and it told me Faro Automated Solutions. That's when I finally remembered why those ruins were familiar. It was Salt Lake City."

"Salt Lake City? Was it because of that lake of salt over yonder?"

"Yes. Anyway, I left the place behind . . ."

* * *

 _John returned to the warmer lowlands and was back on the road. He gazed south past Shattered Kiln to see that area before him was even drier looking than what he had seen back up the road he came down, as there were no plants to be seen, just reddish sand. Definitely it looked to be lacking in water sources. He decided to return to Pitchcliff._

 _For most of the day, he walked. He stopped for a moment to refill his canteen from the river alongside him but became concerned when his rations were close to gone. He was going to have to buy some more back in Pitchcliff. Though his shards were running low. If that was the case then some hunting for the first time had to be in order. He encountered one of those Watchers walking near the road and decided to hunt it since they look to be the weakest. He scanned it to track its path and walked over to stand upon the Watcher's designated path, then took out his spear. The Watcher walked ever closer to the point that it will soon turn and start walking toward him. This made John wonder what would happen if he allowed the Watcher to bump into him, then dismisses that notion as not wanting to take any chances._

 _The Watcher turned the corner and began walking toward John. To the machine, he may as well be invisible since his machine blinder made him as such. The Watcher continued getting closer. John tensed himself to strike as he focused on that single huge blue light that was its eye._

 _With a shout, John stabbed outward and the spearpoint struck its eye . . . But it did not break through, merely chipping the glass._

 _With a curse, John repeatedly stabbed the Watcher in its eye as fast and as viciously as possible. The Watcher squalled and squawked as it shifted and staggered from being attacked by something it could not see. John felt himself tiring and could see that he was not getting any further in destroying this machine. He knew he needed to up the anti and was quick to stop and look around. He saw a fist size rock and was quick to throw down his spear and pick up that rock. The Watcher still staggered as it tried to regain its composure._

 _John swung the rock with a yell, striking the Watcher across the head, violently shifting it to one side. He was upon it with rock raised high and brought it down upon its head over and over, with each swing exhausting him even more._

 _Finally he could no longer continue and stopped. The Watcher's head was caved in and its eye was shattered as it sparked and fizzled while making that metallic squall that faded to silence_.

* * *

"Although you were right about Watchers being the weakest of the machines," Aloy said, "you now know that even hunting them is far from easy."

"I figured that much," John said dryly. "How old were you when you began hunting machines?"

"I think I was six."

"Well now there you go. I bet when you started off, you must've saw them as a force to be reckoned with. Now, you can probably bring down a Watcher in a single spear thrust."

"Yes, you're right."

"Machine hunting was something that we Old Ones never did because machines simply did not exist in that form back then. Now then, on with my story . . ."

* * *

 _John tossed the rock aside and took a while to rest. Once he had recovered enough, he picked up that rock and began battering on the Watcher's chassis to break open its armor. Luckily these Watchers were not built for combat as he was able to make tears and crevices appear in its chassis. He next used his spear to pry open the Watcher's chassis and next pulled it further apart to get at its innards to see pieces of metal in it that resembled shards._

 _After harvesting those shards, he left what was left of the Watcher and continued onward back to Pitchcliff, reaching it before sunset. John asked around for a merchant selling travel rations and found one. Afterwards, he found an inn to stay at for the night and was up the next morning._

 _After leaving the inn, he encountered the ealdorman._

" _Did ya find what you were looking for?" The ealdorman asked upon recognizing John._

" _No," John answered dejectedly while shaking his head briefly._

" _So what now for ya?"_

" _I'll be heading to Meridian."_

" _Meridian, eh? Did ya hear it was attacked by the Eclipse?"_

" _Attacked?"_

" _Yeah, by the Shadow Carja, they were remnants of the Mad Sun-King's army. These machines that popped up out of the ground were helpin' them! But don't worry, they were defeated."_

 _John gaped at the ealdorman in astonishment. "Th-They were defeated?! How?!"_

" _Well from what I heard, a Nora girl speared the leader of the machines."_

 _John pondered that it must have been that Aloy character._

" _And if she's who I think she is," the ealdorman added, "she's the same girl who helped us when this place was being attacked by Glinthawks."_

" _I . . . see," John said, not being sure of how to answer that as this Aloy girl seems almost superhuman. "What can you tell me about this Nora tribe?"_

" _They live to the southeast, which is also east of Meridian, in a place they call the Sacred Lands. But if you're fixin' to visit 'em, forget it. They don't like outsiders."_

" _That's too bad."_

" _Though they do have outposts near it that you could visit."_

" _Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. So which direction do I have to take to get to Meridian?"_

" _Take the road opposite of the one ya took ta go to Maker's End. Then go across the river and go south. But remember ta keep the river on yer rightside because a part of that river runs right past Meridian, so ya should see the city before then. I should warn ya though, there are Snapmaws lurking in that river."_

" _Are they machines?"_

" _Yeah, they're long, flat, and low to the ground with huge jaws. They can leap out of the water and catch any unsuspecting traveler unawares."_

" _Ah, thanks for the warning. Just how far is Meridian?"_

" _It's a several day journey to the city. Ya better be prepared for that. And be prepared to see damage done to the city itself."_

" _Understood. So . . . take the east road, cross the river, go south, and keep the river to my rightside?"_

" _Yes."_

 _John left Pitchcliff and reached the fork in the road once again. From there, he could see the eastbound road across the river and part of it going south. He took that route and kept the river on his rightside._

 _The road led him across part of the American Southwest. As expected, more machines could be seen, both the Gaia and the now dormant Faro type. John continued walking until sunset and figured that it be best if he camped somewhere that machines would not step on him, so he headed up a hillside where he found a simple wooden shelter consisting of only three walls, a roof, and a floor. Nevertheless, he chose this as his shelter for the night. Early the next morning, he was up and packing his tent away and had a quick breakfast._

 _Days passed as John continued his journey along that road with that river on his rightside as he traveled through part of the American Southwest. Grasses abound and cacti as well. Small animals scurried amongst the rocks. He also spotted a herd of machines that resembled bison in the distance. He encountered pictures that were glyphs painted on the sides of rocks with arrows pointing in various directions; such as one set that pointed the way to Meridian. It also began getting warmer, forcing John to pack away the warmer clothing in the effort to keep cool. He wondered if he might learn more about this Aloy in Meridian since she would have had to pass through there and her people live to the east of the city. As expected from his travel from High Hopes, answering the call of nature was still a troublesome situation. Then there was the walking, as the end of each day of long distance walking left his legs stiff and sore._

 _As for the the people, John passed them on the road. Those coming from Meridian would report how Corruptors and Deathbringers had attacked Meridian alongside the Eclipse, a cult made up of the Shadow Carja who never accepted the new Sun-King and turned to worshipping an evil god instead. Then how the Nora, including their girl Aloy, had come to help defend it against these Eclipse._

" _Afterwards, she disappeared into the West upon a tamed Broadhead," a traveling merchant had said to John at one point early that morning._

" _A tamed Broadhead?" John said incredulously. "But I thought machines are hostile to us humans."_

" _I know, but somehow she tamed it into letting her ride it! She was last seen riding toward the Forbidden West!"_

" _The Forbidden West?"_

" _Aye, sir. The Forbidden West. A place where the sun goes to set. A place that is said to be next to a lake so huge that it be impossible to see across, and undrinkable because it be full of salt. There are rumors that the place has machines never before seen."_

* * *

"I never made it that far out," Aloy said. "I only went as far as a range of high mountains."

"Actually, that so-called lake is more than it is," John said. "While it is true that it is saltwater, it is far bigger than any lake you could ever imagine."

"I once saw a map of this world in a ruin. Tell me. Does it cover most of the world?"

"Yes. Now as for that merchant, he told me some pretty incredible stuff about you."

"I'm sure he did."


	12. Chapter 11

" _So I guess everyone in Meridian must consider her a hero for what she has done," John ventured._

" _You bet she is," the merchant stated. "She even has Sun-King Avad's favor!"_

" _Tell me about this Sun-King Avad."_

" _He is the son of Sun-King Jiran, who was also known as the Mad Sun-King."_

" _Why was he called that?"_

" _Because he believed that sacrificing people to the machines would quell their anger towards people. The Mad Sun-King started the Red Raids. He had his army raid other tribes for sacrifices, all the way up into the Claim."_

" _Ghastly!" As John's mouth twisted with disgust._

" _As if that wasn't bad enough, the Mad Sun-King had his own firstborn son and designated heir sacrificed to the machines."_

" _Why the hell did he do that?!"_

" _For objecting to his father's atrocities."_

" _Good lord, is this Mad Sun-King still alive?!"_

" _No thankfully. He was killed by his second son, Avad. It all started when Avad escaped with a group of soldiers that secretly objected to his father's atrocities and they went into the Claim to enlist a group of Oseram freebooters led by a man named Erend. They emassed enough men and led an assault on Meridian. Avad managed to make his way up to his father and killed him, becoming the new Sun-King. Avad immediately set about reversing all that his father had done. He purged his father's loyalists, freed the captives, and opened Meridan to all."_

" _Well that's great. And the fact that this new Sun-King overthrew his father and undid everything his father had done definitely means he's a decent man. So how much further is it to Meridian?"_

" _If you keep walking, you should reach it by this evening. You'll know you've reached it by the Spire."_

" _The Spire?"_

" _It's a giant shiny spike on a hilltop next to Meridian. It was there long before the Carja ever settled there and it was the reason why they settled there in the first place. Their ancestors saw it as a sign that the Sun wanted them to settle there and built Meridian where Spire's shadow fell at noon."_

* * *

"That's when I wondered if it might be one of the relay towers of the Subroutine Minerva," John said. "Anyway, I thanked him and left. As the day progressed, I started coming upon villages and the road started becoming more built up as there were stone posts that looked to have been carved by hand, along with the railings of bridges. I noticed that the farmers kept various animals such as boars, turkeys, geese, and even rabbits all in pens. I saw all sorts of crops being grown on raised cordened off land in neat rows. I felt glad that you new humans had rediscovered civilization. It made me wonder if there were any other civilizations out there in other lands."

"You really believe that there are other tribes out there with cities of their own?" Aloy mused.

"I don't see why not," John answered. "I mean, since the Eleuthia cradles are worldwide, they would have released their human charges into the world to form their own tribes. Some of which would have settled in areas that would have given them the opportunity to create their own civilizations. Such places are more common than you think. However, they would be too far away for any of us to casually go there."

"I wonder if any of them will ever come here?"

"I don't see any reason why they wouldn't. Now to continue . . ."

* * *

 _More Chariot Line Models littered the landscape, some of which had destroyed houses. One of which, a Kopesh, was in the middle of the road! John also started noticing that none of Gaia's machines were around. It could only mean that whatever enforcement they have is effective in keeping them away._

 _John continued his progress toward Meridian as the sun continued its progress across the sky toward the so-called Forbidden West. The ignorance of these new humans. If only they could understand that there was nothing forbidden about it. This made him once again ponder the failure of Apollo to educate these new humans. It next led him to be curious about the progression of the new humans over the several hundred years since leaving the Eleuthia cradles._

 _As John got closer to his destination, the architecure became more pervasive and exquisite. All of it hand-carved from the red stone that made up the desert. The people became increasingly numerous. All of them traveling on foot, with some pulling carts. He noticed that there were more Oseram than he had expected as he could tell by their attire and body types. Their presence helped him take notice of who the Carja were. They wore mainly tunics of various colors with many wearing caps that resembled cloth pulled over their craniums with flaps cut out of their peaks. At one point, he got off the road to watch a procession of soldiers marching down it and past him. He found that they looked impressive in their armor and helmets that cover the upper part of their faces and they wielded those halbert-like weapons._

 _It was shortly after he passed the squad of guards that he rounded a bend and stopped to take notice of bunch of tall buildings clustered together atop of a mesa. Near it and upon a hilltop was what looked like a giant shiny spike._

 _Upon getting closer to the city, John could see more of its details. It had tall buildings clustered together and he also noted the damage done as he could see the missing jagged portions off its walls. It was near the threshold of the city bridge that John stopped for a moment as he stared at an inn. He smoothed his head over to feel the stubble on his cranium and brow, but felt more prominent stubble on his lower face. Hair on a man's lower face grows faster than what grows out of his cranium or brow. John wanted to look his best as he was going into a city and upon entering the inn, he asked for a bath and was able to get one. It involved a room no bigger than a walk-in closet with a large metal pan full of water than two men carried in. There was also a small stove that burned blaze, a fuel that was derived from machines known as Bellowbacks, along with a metal bucket. The user filled up the bucket with water and boiled it, then threw it back into the pan and bathed. Soap, washcloth, and a towel were provided as well_

 _John took the time to bathe from head to feet. Afterwards, he also had his clothing laundered and wore his second pair as he waited for his clothes to dry over a hot plate heated by blaze. There were also barbers at the inn and John got a shave with the use of a straight razor, something which made him nervous, but the steady skilled hand of the barber insured no cuts and a smooth lower face. John was able to pay and took a moment to check himself out in the mirrors they had, taking a moment to admire his clean-shaven face and the blonde stubble on his cranium and brow for a moment._

 _John left the inn and crossed the city rampart, a long bridge with caged alcoves at various intervals and armed guards stationed at various places. As he walked into the city, he noticed something off to his left that stirred a feeling of nostalgia within him. An elevator. It looked like the old-fashioned ones from the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. He watched it rise with a group of people. He surmised that the elevator must work on the use of a system of weights. Such an elevator had only one stop on the way up or down._

 _John passed the city's threshold and looked around at the sight. Large stone buildings were built close together making for various alleyways, all of which were only wide enough for people and carts. There were also stone walkways overhead that created roofed areas of the street below for shade. The streets were cobblestoned with steps in various places that led upward to those walkways. There were a multitude of people, mostly Carja, going about their business or routines. Merchants of all sorts hawked their wares at various stalls. The smell of spices, metal, and smoke filled the air._

 _John walked upward and onto one of those walkways to get a better look at the city. The red stone of the desert was liberally used to create the buildings and other infrastructure. There were spinning rectangular windwheels made of bronze atop of chimneys or elsewhere. He noticed what they called the Spire and understood that it was a relay tower, one of a myriad built by Gaia for its Subroutine Minerva so that it could hack the hibernating Faro Swarm and shut them down._

 _He encountered some teenaged Carja girls that reminded him of high school or college girls. They wore dresses made from silk, jewelry of gemstones or machine parts, and even what looked like tiaras formed from machine parts. They wore makeup that consisted mainly of black penciling around their eyes with tiny spokes radiating out from them to end as equally tiny circles._

 _One of those girls, a White girl with blue eyes and long straight black hair held together past her shoulders in a tiny ponytail, took notice of John and smirked._

" _What do you want, outlander? You lookin' for a Carja girl to give you a good time?" Her tone condenscending as the other girls stopped to regard the scene and giggle. "Sorry but you're not going to find that sort of thing here with us."_

 _John was taken off guard by that girl's retort. "Ah, I'm sorry," he quickly said with a brief shake of his head and hands. "But what can you tell me about a Nora girl with red hair. I kept hearing talk about her."_

" _Ah yes, the hero of Meridian," the raven-haired girl said in a lazy sarcastic manner. "Yeah, she's the Nora savage who managed to convince her fellow savages to come up here and defend Meridian. Impressive when those Nora are not supposed to leave their Sacred Land, and how our people preyed on them and all. She fought Helios, the Mad Sun-King's champion, and killed him. Then she managed to kill that god the Shadow Carja worshipped after it was dragged up to the Spire by a Deathbringer. I actually helped her solve a theft before all that. Some fellow noble got his sword stolen and she managed to get it back. She spoke to me and I told her about how I saw the thief run past me like his ass was on fire, but he didn't have the sword on him."_

" _Did he get his sword back?" John asked._

" _Yeah, he did," the raven-haired girl answered._

" _Ah well that's good to hear, now if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way,"John said, wanting to end this conversation as he felt uneasy over what she might say next._

" _And good luck gettin' your pole greased," the raven-haired girl said in an embarrassingly loud quick casual manner while flittering her hand, causing the other girls with her to laugh._

 _John briskly walked away with a reddened face as while he understood that these new humans would have their own slang for sexual matters, he could understand the meaning behind it. He heard snippets of their conversation as he left hearing that girl saying outlanders with humorous contempt and another saying that he looked cute._

 _The sound of singing was next to get John's attention and he went to investigate, passing more Carja along the way. He arrived at an open round area cordon off by a circle of columns. There were more Carja hanging around watching a group of people, all men dressed in dark red hooded robes, singing in unison as they encircle the center. They were not singing but chanting in a smooth baritone. Their chant rose and fell, giving the listener a feeling of bobbing along. John smiled at the feeling it gave him and decided to stick around and watch. He noted that the other Carja had closed eyes and it became clear that they were praying._

 _The chant eventually came to an end and the red robed men broke formation to casually go about whatever their affairs may be. One of them passed John._

" _Excuse me, but what was that performance?" John asked._

 _The robed man turned to acknowledge John. His cowl had a flap that hung in front of his face to mostly obscure it, but John could see enough of his face to see that he was dark and bearded._

" _We were praying to the Sun," the hooded man answered._

" _Okay, and I notice that you're wearing an outfit that matches those other men."_

" _I am a Sun Priest. And where are you from, outlander?"_

" _I came from the northwest. I was with a tribe called the Harguess and living near the Claim."_

" _The Harguess? You are definitely a long ways away from your home."_

" _That's because those machines that rose up out of the ground also rose up there too."_

" _By the Sun! Just how many of those darkness cursed machines are out there?!"_

" _I wouldn't be surprised if there were millions of them all over the world. On my way up here, I heard from travelers about what had happened here. About this Mad Sun-King, these Eclipse and their control over these machines. About these Nora. And especially this Aloy."_

" _Word has definitely traveled far already. The Nora girl, Aloy, helped to fight off the machines and the Eclipse. She even killed, Helios, the Mad Sun-King's Champion. But left almost immediately after the victory over the Eclipse and their dark god. It was a large metal sphere being dragged by a Deathbringer all the way over to the Spire." As the Sun Priest pointed out Minera's relay tower. "It was trying to awaken all the machines out there to destroy us."_

 _John did not know what to make of this explaination as he pondered over what that thing was and why it was being dragged over to that relay tower. It made no sense at all._

" _I see my story troubles you, sir," the Sun Priest then said, breaking John's thoughts. "It is a very troubling story indeed. But their dark god was defeated by Aloy. She stuck her spear into it, defeating it. Its husk is still there and the spear is still stuck into it. Though recently a red light flew from it."_

" _A red light?" John inquired._

" _I was also witness to it. A red ball of light shot up into the sky and flew away. My guess is that it was its soul escaping its husk."_

* * *

"What's wrong?!" John gasped after being suddenly startled by Aloy having jumped up onto her feet as if ready for battle while bearing a look of shock. She stares down at John with that expression of bewilderment.

"Aloy . . . Is something wrong?"

"That bastard!" She snarled slowly while looking off to one side as if at something distance with a now furious expression.

"What's wrong?"

Aloy shakes her head while holding her hands up in confusion, then presses her fingers against her temples while darting her eyes around and gasping to reign in her thoughts.

"Ah," she began, "J-Just continue on with your story." Her tone curt.

"Okay . . ."

* * *

" _So what happened next?" John asked._

" _She tamed a Broadback and was last seen riding into the Forbidden West," the Sun Priest answered. "By the Sun I do hope she returns."_

" _So do I. Well, I'm interested in seeing more of this city."_

" _Oh yes, don't let me interfere with your gaze upon our beautiful city, in spite of the horrors that happened here."_

" _I'm sure you'll all pull through."_

" _That we will, outlander."_

 _John walked away to see more of the city. Even though there was damage to be seen, there was much work at patching and fixing the damages. As he walked around, he saw that there were also people from other tribes. One such group were dressed in a manner that remind him of the Inuit. As for the Carja, those who were more well off were dressed in silks and other fanciful attire, with much in the way of machine parts adorning their bodies. With all of the wealthier people out and about, John wondered if he will see their Sun-King. Like the Harguess and the Oseram, the Carja were also racially varied as well._

 _It was at that point that John took notice of a man standing nearby of whom he was about to pass by. He had a chin curtain beard and was dressed in a tunic with knee-length trousers and a close fitting skullcap that seemingly had flaps cut out of it. He also wore aviator glasses with thick metal rims, showing to John that they had rediscovered glasses._

" _Is something wrong, sir?" the man asked._

" _Ah, no, I was just noticing that you're the first person I met who wears glasses," John answered._

" _Glasses? Ah, you must mean my correctors!" As the man briefly clasps one of the rims._

" _Ah . . . yeah, those." As John came to the understanding that while these new humans may rediscover what his kind once had, they would inevitably end up inventing different names for them._

" _My eyesight got bad from studying Old One relics. I just love collecting relics from the Metal World. Why, I even have a set of magnificant vessels. Courtesy of that Nora girl!"_

* * *

"And of course that Nora girl was you," John said whimsically.

"You bet it was," Aloy answered, then chuckled. "He thought that they were used by you Old Ones for shaving. One for water, one for soap, and one for oil. He then crowed on about how majestic it must've been."

John laughs. "They were for drinking out of!"

"That's what I told him, but he thought it too simplistic."

"I said the same thing to him and he also dismissed that too . . . Although he did have a point there because those mugs weren't always used for the purpose they were designed for. I knew a woman who had one for holding pencils and pens."

Aloy gives John a quizzical stare.

"Writing implemants?" As he makes a writing motion. "Anyway, I left him behind and went elsewhere in the city . . ."


	13. Chapter 12

_John came upon a large building with steps leading up to large double doors. Soft but uplifting music came wafting out and he caught a glimpse inside and noticed that there were tables and chairs with men sitting at them drinking from mugs. John figured that place must also be an inn and entered. The interior was spacious with the upper floor visible from below as the roof could be clearly seen. Thick wooden beams were situated throughout the interior to keep it up. In the back was a bar and off to the left was a large enclosed booth of wooden bars with a girl dressed in yellow and white working behind it. Three musicians nearby were playing that music: one was playing an odd drum set; another was playing a lute of some sort; and another was playing a flute._

 _But what ultimately commanded John's attention was a huge machine suspended high up above the common room._

" _What sort of machine is that?!" John pondered aloud with a sneer to no one in particular._

" _That is a Thunderjaw," a man said from nearby. John looked to see that the man in question is old with white hair and a goatee. He had a dignified look and tone about him._

" _A Thunderjaw?" As John sneers while looking back up at the machine in question. "I bet that must've taken a lot of men to take down."_

" _Actually that was bought down by one man," the dignified man answered. "His name was Ahsis, but he was killed trying to take down another one named Red Maw."_

* * *

"Ahsis," Aloy growled with a sneer.

"You knew that guy?" John asked.

"Unfortunately. He was an arrogant idiot who used to put me down just because I was a Nora and a woman."

"But he's dead now. And as for these Thunderjaws, just how tough are they?"

"Very tough." Her tone emphasized. "Thunderjaws will use their great size against a hunter by charging at them and will even use their tail as a club. They have cannons on their head that shoot bolts of light, along with another set that shoot red beams of burning light. On their back they have another pair of cannons that launch discs at their opponents that in turn shoot beams of light at the hunter. They can use radar to see the hunter. I've managed to take down Thunderjaws alone but usually if there's another Thunderjaw nearby, or at least any machine large enough. That way I can override one and let them fight each other because regular machines view overridden machines as traitors and overridden machines view regular machines as hostiles. The victor is left damaged enough so that I can take them down sooner."

"I see. Anyway . . ."

* * *

" _So what is this place?" John asked._

" _This is the Hunter's Lodge," the dignified man answered._

 _John was startled by someone grabbing his arm from behind and he spun around to confront the grabber. It was an East Asian girl._

 _She glared at John._

" _Is there a problem?" John asked._

" _You and I need to talk, stranger," the girl said in a soft though commanding tone as she tugged on his arm._

 _John complied, though he felt uneasy. They went over to a corner where the others were further away from them._

" _Where did you get that?" The girl demanded in a low tone as she pointed it out. "That thing on the side of your head."_

" _This was given to me," John answered as he briefly touched his focus. "But let me guess: Aloy, that red-haired Nora girl has one, right?"_

" _Yes, she is my Thrush."_

" _Thrush?"_

" _It is a rank in the Hunting Lodge. Mine is Sunhawk. That means she's a member of the Hunting Lodge."_

" _I kept hearing her name all the way from the Claim. I'm not an Oseram mind you, I'm from a tribe that lives near their border to the northwest. They're called the Harguess. You probably never heard of them but the Oseram around here might have."_

" _So you say." The girl's tone was suspicious._

" _Okay, what's really on your mind?"_

" _After the Battle of Meridian, Aloy disappeared into the Forbidden West."_

" _Yeah, supposedly riding on a tamed machine. And she's supposed to have red hair, right?"_

" _Yes."_

" _Well, I've yet to meet another person with that hair color."_

 _The girl was silent while pondering John's answer for a moment._

" _Very well," she finally answered._

" _This Aloy must be really something," John mused._

" _That she is. She helped me kill Redmaw, a Thunderjaw that killed many hunters who sought to kill it, including the former Sunhawk, Ahsis. Tell me, did those Corruptors and Deathbringers pop up out of the ground all the way up into Harguess territory?"_

" _Yes they did. They even wiped out an entire town of a few hundred people."_

" _That far away?! Just how many of these Eclipse machines do you think are out there?!"_

" _Probably millions. Anyway, it's been interesting, but I want to be going."_

 _The girl nodded and stepped aside, allowing John to leave._

* * *

"Once I got back outside, I realized that any of your friends I ran into might end up thinking that I robbed you of it," John said as he touched his own focus for a moment.

"Anyone who tried to rob me learned the hard way that was not a smart thing to do," Aloy said in a dangerous matter-of-fact tone. "Assuming they survived. But as for that Sunhawk, her name is Talanah."

"Er, yeah . . . But anyway I thought of taking it off and putting it away, but it was a potential conversation starter with any of your friends I might happen to run into. I mean there was a possibility that they might have a clue as to where you went exactly so that I could follow after you . . ."

* * *

 _John walked throughout the city as he kept his ears open for any clues spoken by the people around him as to the precise whereabouts of this Aloy of the Nora. The walk gave him another sense of nostalgia over what this world once had. Its glories, the high technology, the infrastructure. Cities that made this city look like a small town. The Metal World, a world full of light._

 _A light snuffed out by the foolishness of one man._

 _John casually approached to pass a group of Oseram who were dressed in outfits of heavy leather with metal plates that included matching helmet with heavy leather veils. They were armed with large hammers and axes for busting up machines. One of the men was bare-headed to reveal that he was White with blue eyes, short brown hair shaved into a strip, and that Oseram beard consisting of merely a cleanly-shaven chin. The man was laughing with the other men and gazed away to glance at John for a moment, only to do a double take at John with a now serious expression. John knew that he was staring at his focus and decided not to make himself look suspicious and keep walking by. The man continued staring at John, causing him to feel increasingly uneasy. This man must be another friend of Aloy._

" _Hey there outlander," the man said to John upon getting close enough._

" _Hey," John answered uneasily as he stopped._

" _I can't help but notice that you have the same trinket as a couple of people I know."_

" _Does one of them happen to be a girl with red hair?"_

" _Yeah." The man's tone was suspicious._

* * *

"Erend does seem to have that affect on others," Aloy quipped. "Especially those who rouse his suspicion."

"Erend? So that was his name?" John asked.

"Yeah, he's the Captain of the Vanguards. They're Avad's personal bodyguards. He was also Olin's friend."

"Ah, now I understand why my focus set him off . . ."

* * *

" _I've heard people talking about her," John said._

" _Where you from?" Erend asked._

" _I came from the northwest, from Harguess territory, and from a town called High Hopes."_

" _Harguess?" Erend's tone had a touch of incredulity. "That place all the way out past the Claim?"_

" _Yeah. It was attacked by those machines that popped up out of the ground."_

" _All the way out to there?!" Erend's expression was one of shock to match his tone, causing the other Oseram with him to express their gasps of shock._

" _And then they all shut down."_

" _That's because Aloy defeated the leader of those machines."_

" _I next heard about the city of Meridan and decided to come here. Along the way, I ran into an Oseram man who had one of these too." Briefly gesturing at his own focus._

" _Describe him." As Erend leered suspiciously._

" _He was fair skinned with a shaved head, brown eyes, and face hair shaved in the fashion you have. He wore a beige sleeveless vest and had a large spot tattooed on his upper left arm."_

 _Erend stiffed with a frown._

" _Do you know him?" John asked._

" _Unfortunately," Erend an swered sourly. "And if he's who I think you were describing, he had a connection to the people who attacked this place with those machines."_

" _He did?"_

" _But sir," one of the soldiers spoke up. "It was only because they threatened to kill his family."_

" _Yeah, yeah," Erend gripped._

" _Anyway, he picked me out because of my trinket and we struck up a conversation. Especially when he had taken out his own. That's when he told me about Aloy, a member of the Nora tribe."_

" _Where did you get yours exactly?" Erend inquired._

" _This was given to me." As John briefly pointed at his focus. "So this Aloy girl. I heard she next tamed a machine and disappeared into the Forbidden West."_

" _That's what happened," Erend said._

" _I wish I could've met her." As John looked off to one side momentarily, then looked back at Erend. "But anyway if there's nothing more to speak of, can I be on my way?"_

" _Yeah, yeah."_

" _But ah . . . before I leave," John said as he momentarily pressed his forefinger to his bottom lip and darted his eyes around in thought. "Is there a library around here?"_

" _A what now?" Erend asked with a wince._

" _I mean," as John momentarily glanced down while gesturing slightly with his hands in the attempt to find the proper phrase, "is there a place in this city that keeps lots of books for people to read?"_

" _About the only place like that around here is the royal depository. But only the Sun-King and those he permits have access to that place. And I doubt he's gonna let you in there, stranger."_

" _Well it was just a question, so I'll be on my way now. Good day."_

 _John turned and left with the understanding that their Sun-King just might let him in there if he were to reveal that he was an Old One; then just as quickly dismissed that thought because he had no way of proving it. That and he did not feel eager to reveal his secret._

 _John continued meandering throughout the city while taking in more of the sights. He kept trying to catch more tidbits of Aloy of the Nora. This time he thought about visiting the Minerva relay tower and returned first to the upper level of the city to get his bearings and saw where the tower was located. Upon seeing it, he made his way toward it. He arrived at the base and could see that there were missing chunks of walkway that would have stopped anyone from going upward, except that wooden bridges had been laid down over them to allow that._

 _It was a long climb, but he arrived at the hilltop to see stone columns encircling the center. The set up reminded him of Stonehenge. He stared up at the Spire while approaching it and could finally see that it really was one of Minerva's relay towers. His attention next shifted to the base where a large metal sphere with something long and thin protruding from it was in front of the base of the relay tower_.


	14. Chapter 13

"It was a quantum processor unit," John said.

"What's that?" Aloy asked.

"It was a part of Gaia's brain. In fact, that's what Gaia was mainly composed of. Though it's odd that a Subroutine would be exclusively in one. Those were meant to hold artifical intelligence."

"I found another one too. It was north of here and it looked to have been blown there. But please continue on, Jawn."

"Very well . . ."

* * *

" _That was the leader of the Eclipse machines. Supposedly that was the Shadow Carja's new god," a woman said, startling John into looking._

 _The woman walked up to stand alongside him while staring down at the quantum processor unit. She was Black with extremely dark skin and a lean muscular physique. She wore a purple dress with a large loose fitting hood and a thin purple veil drawn across the lower half of her face, though still sheer enough to see through._

" _Some god," she continued in a dismissive tone. "It was dragged up here by a Deathbringer, which the little huntress and her tribe had busted to pieces, along with another Deathbringer and more of the usual machines that had been corrupted by the Corruptors. Finally, she was able to jam her spear into that god and killed it. But not before she passed out from the effort in doing so."_

" _That's pretty amazing," John said._

" _You bet it was, outlander. Although there were witnesses right here after the battle who watched as a red ball of light shot up out of it and disappeared up into the sky."_

" _I heard that too while I was in the city."_

" _And no doubt you heard that she was last seen riding a tamed Broadhead into the Forbidden West."_

" _Yeah, I did."_

 _She next turned to face John. "That little huntress is one amazing woman. I mean, she not only aided Meridian but she also aided me in saving a man who deserved to be saved, and a Kestral at that. She helped me get Sun-King Avad's half-brother and his mother out of the city of Sunfall. I also heard about the other adventures she had in helping other people and they all managed to come to Meridian to defend it; including her own people, who supposedly never leave their Sacred Land. Then she was at the front lines of the Battle for Meridian, helping to take down machines bigger than herself. She slew Helis, the Terror of the Sun, the Stacker of Corpses. Then slew this machine to stop all the others. And despite all that," as her tone reached a pitch of amazement while holding her hands aloft, "she didn't even make a big deal out of any of it . . . ! I've known plenty others who've bragged over less!"_

" _But isn't that what it means to be a true hero? Being modest about your accomplishments?"_

" _I . . . suppose. I can't see myself being modest about the whole thing. I spent two years planning on how to get the Mad Sun-King's youngest son and his mother, the Dowager Queen, out of Sunfall and I felt envious of that little huntress managing to get the thanks. Perhaps it is time we did have a real hero. The Sun knows we haven't had any of late. Sun-King Avad is certainly a help too, even more so than the little huntress."_

" _I've heard the Nora live to the east of here."_

" _Yes, the Savage East."_

" _The Savage East?"_

" _Supposely because it's untamed, uncivilized, and if the legends are to be believed, the place where people first came from."_

* * *

"That was when I realized it is where Eleuthia Number Nine lies," John said. "What you now call the Sacred Lands was once known as Colorado, one of the states of the United States of America. The Sundom was once known as the state of Utah."

"That's interesting," Aloy mused. "But as for that woman? The fact that she referred to me as little huntress means that she was Vanasha."

"Just how many people did you help out?"

"A lot."

"I see. Anyway, to continue . . ."

* * *

" _So that intrigues you then?" Vanasha said. "Unfortunately, the Nora don't just let anyone in."_

" _So I was told," John said dryly._

" _Although a Sun Priest along with an army of Oseram were allowed in some time ago to read Sun-King Avad's proclamation of peace. But I don't think they'll permit a mere stranger like you in."_

" _No I guess not." As disappointment tinged his tone, then stared at the quantum processor unit. "Well . . . I've seen enough here. I guess I'll be going."_

" _Before you go, could you tell me what tribe you're from?"_

" _I came from the northwest. The territory is part of the Harguess tribe."_

" _Did the Eclipse machines go up that far?"_

" _They popped up out of the grounds in the Harguess territories as well."_

" _I did hear that those Eclipse machines had popped up far and wide!" As she exclaimed in that drawling manner of hers. "But I never thought it was that far and wide! It makes you wonder just how many of those machines are out there in the rest of the whole wide world."_

" _More than you know. See you."_

 _John made his way back downhill and into Meridian. While sitting in a shaded area of the city, he tried to think of all that he had learned while on his way here. Those Shadow Carja were a part of a cult called the Eclipse that worshipped these machines, or more accurately the leader of them. A leader that turned out to be one of Gaia's Subroutines inside of a quantum processor unit back at the relay tower. It still puzzled him as to how the Eclipse got ahold of it. Or even what one of the nine Subroutines of Gaia was doing in it to begin with. Which Subroutine was the question._

 _There was also the ultimate question of the Subroutine Apollo failing to educate the new humans._

 _So many questions and no answer for any of them. John understood that the only way to get the proper answer was to investigate Gaia Prime; unfortunately, if Maker's End was of any indication, he will not be able to enter Gaia Prime since all of the Project: Zero Dawn installations are interconnected._

 _So it all came down to that girl, Aloy, as he could not shake the feeling that there was something special about her. He wondered if the answer lay with her. After all, she did stop these Faro machines by destroying the Subroutine housed within that quantum processor unit that cult had treated as a god. And she even had a focus of her own, meaning that she understood the technology of his world._

 _John sighed with frustration while leaning forward and briefly rubbing his face as he wondered just where she was. He kept that pose with his face in his hands. In the "Forbidden West" they said. Where in the west exactly?_

 _He lowered his hands and his eyes had the look of recognition as he remembered something. Elisabet Sobeck was born and raised in Carson City, Nevada. Could it be that this Aloy girl was looking for Dr. Sobeck's former home? John wondered why she would do that. Then . . . could it be that this Aloy had somehow learned about Project: Zero Dawn?_

 _John wondered if it was possible to find her. Pinpoint her location that is. If she was wearing a focus then he might be able to tap into it. Back in his day, a relay of satellites made talking to someone else via focus easy. There were no longer any satellites in orbit, making such a feat extremely difficult. He also thought about those Eclipse. They must have been the ones who each possessed their own focus that that Oseram man he met up in the Claim with his own focus had talked of. That meant they had to have been able to casually communicate to each other, leading to having some sort of high technology in order to be able to send their signals far and wide. If he could just figure out what they had used then he might be able to use it to find this Aloy._

 _John got up and planned his next course of action. He just needed something to point him in the right direction. He entered a market where there were machine parts on display. At one of them was a large black sleek feline machine stretched out on a frame like an animal that had been skinned._

 _That was when John had an epiphany._

" _Ah, excuse me," John said to an Oseram man next to that feline robot. "Did you hunt this machine?"_

" _Why yes I did," the Oseram answered. "It's called a Stalker. One of the New Machines. The Jewel is full of them. It's southwest of here."_

" _So you have experience hunting them?"_

" _Yes I do, why do you ask?"_

" _So you must understand that these machines have to know the lay of the land before they simply go wandering all over it."_

" _Well of course they do." The Oseram man's tone was sarcastic, as if it was only common sense to know this stuff. "That's why they have those Tallnecks looking out for them."_

" _Right, Tallnecks. I seem to forget about them. I guess it's because they don't attack anyone and just walk around in circles. Something not dangerous is easy to overlook."_

" _Yeah, I guess so."_

" _Thanks anyway."_

 _John understood the purpose of the Tallnecks and a plan to hack into one of them began forming in his mind. It will take parts though, and the right kind_.

* * *

"So you were going to hack into the Tallnecks and get a map of surrounding terrain?" Aloy asked.

"Yes," John verified.

"That explains how you managed to get here."

"It took me two days to gather the resources necessary to make a device that would enable me to hack into a Tallneck." He next roots around in his backpack and pulls out to show Aloy what looks like a radar gun stuck onto a large box. "But I did manage to gather them . . ."

* * *

 _John left Meridian with his invention in hand to search for that Tallneck he had seen. He found that Tallneck casually walking its circular path that it had beaten into the dirt like the first Tallneck he had once seen. The journey to find it was not as long as the journey on his way past it on to Meridian._

 _As John searched for a vantage point to get at it, he saw various machines stalking about the place. His machine blinder did its job in keeping him invisible to those machines. He found that vantage point and perched himself there. Though he had to wait for a time as the Tallneck was far from it due to it needing to be close. John used that time to set up his hacker properly._

 _That was when he understood that the machine blinder might interfere with his hacker and may need to turn it off. That was a dangerous situation as there were machines within sight that may see him and charge at him._

 _He decided to check if keeping his machine blinder on will intefere with the hacker. The Tallneck continued making its way toward John's vantage point. He pointed the hacker at its head and flipped a switch to begin hacking and scanned his hacker with his focus so that he could pick it up. With each second it took to get through, the Tallneck got ever closer and will soon pass him. The Tallneck passed him as John kept his hacker pointing up at it._

* * *

"So you stayed on the ground and pointed that thing at the Tallneck's head to hack into it?" Aloy asked as she gestured at the hacker.

"Yes, of course," John verified.

"Me, I simply jump onto a Tallneck from a high enough vantage point and climb my way up to its head where I stick the end of my spear into it and hack it."

"You do?! Isn't that dangerous?"

"Very. Especially when I jump off and throw my grappling hook onto a part of the Tallneck and lower myself down."

John blinks in silence at Aloy.

"You would've made an incredible acrobat back in my day," he finally said. "Now then as I was saying . . ."

* * *

 _The Tallneck passed John by, but nothing got uploaded and it was proven that having that machine blinder on will interfere with his hacking the Tallneck. He knew that he will need to turn his machine blinder off the next time that Tallneck came around._

 _The Tallneck eventually made its return trip and John readied himself. It finally got close enough to him and he turned off the machine blinder, thus leaving himself visible to the other machines. He pointed the hacker up at the Tallneck's head, keeping it ever steady and this time he was receiving information from it. He glanced over his shoulder, only to do a double take with a look of concern as one of those machines that reminded him of a tiger came stalking toward him from a little ways off as it made that creepy metallic piston pumping sound with each step it took._

 _The information continued downloading into the hacker as the Tallneck continued getting closer along with that other machine. John kept glancing more quickly over his shoulder as his heart began racing. Cold sweat trickled down the side of his face._

" _Come on! Come on!" John hissed as he continued glancing between that Tallneck, his hacker, and that machine getting closer by the second. Soon, it will be close enough to attack him. Already he saw that its mouth was made up of circular saws that look capable of effortlessly grinding bone let alone flesh._

 _John felt overwhelming relief as the information was finally download and was quick to switch his machine blinder back on. The attacking machine stopped and looked around, apparently wondering where he went. John quietly got up and snuck away._

 _Once far enough away, John scanned the information in his focus and got an image of the lay of the land. The area outside it was blackened out. He could see the various machines that roam the land and what kind, showing that his hypothesis about the machines was right. They need information beforehand before they could go wandering all over the land._

 _John instantly tensed upon taking notice of a focus signal to the east. It was there as it had been ever so brief. Since it was from a focus, he wondered if it was from that Aloy of the Nora_.


	15. Chapter 14

"You know before I entered the Embrace," Aloy began as if only just remembering something important, "I did pick up a signal far to the northwest, but it was too brief for me to think much of it. So that was you. Were you trying to contact me?"

"Actually I wasn't, I was just trying to get a lay of the land and I just so happened to pick up your focus signal, as brief as it was." John then smirked. "Funny, neither of us tried to contact the other, especially me . . . I guess I just never really thought about it. All I was thinking of was getting to meet you in person. That and I was also concerned that there might have been those Eclipse guys listening in. Anyway, back to my story . . ."

* * *

 _John arrived before a wall with towers perched upon it and large open doors. He could see men stationed up at the top dressed in Carja armor, showing this to be a Carja fort. He entered to speak to someone in charge._

" _What place is this?" John asked a man who looked like the commander, a tall slim man with light brown hair, mustache, and grey eyes._

" _This is Dawn's Sentinel," the commander answered. "It's a border fort with the Savage East. It's not as grand as Day Tower, but it suffices."_

" _Day Tower?"_

" _It's the main border fort south of here past the mountains."_

" _Did a red-haired girl happen to pass through here?"_

" _Yes she did. She was even riding a Broadhead too, which she had to ditch in order to pass through here. It must be that Nora girl who helped save Meridian with the help of her people."_

" _So I heard."_

" _If you're looking to do her harm." The commander's tone was menacing tone, causing the other soldiers around him to stiff._

" _Oh no no no!" John was quick exclaim while holding his hands up and shaking them. "I just wanna talk to her! I'm not from around here and heard that she helped stop those other machines!"_

 _The commander was silent for a moment. "Very well. She did manage to kill Helios and most of the Eclipse, so I doubt someone like you could attack her. I don't know if you'll be able to find her because you'll be heading into Nora lands since the Nora don't like outsiders in their lands and all."_

" _I was told that too. But . . . I'll see how far I can get before the Nora tell me to get lost. Could you tell me the directions before I go on my way."_

" _Just stay on this road and it will take you south into the Sacred Lands. You'll know you're in their lands when you reach their fort up on a hill top called Mother's Crown. It is from there that they'll shoot flaming arrows at you. Don't worry, they'll only aim near your feet. But if you keep persisting, they'll aim directly at you."_

" _G-Gotcha." Nervousness tinged John's tone. "Anyway, thank you."_

 _John left to walk down a road that meandered through a valley. He encountered more now dormant Scarabs and Kopesh. He would frequently scan his surroundings to get a reading, and just in case the owner of that focus happened to be around._

 _It was the afternoon as John walked into an open area of mountains and rolling lands with more forests and rivers beyond it. He could see machines in various places and the road leading north. John kept on the road that took him south and toward a hill. Up it he could see a fort that consisted of wooden walls with a gate now closed. He figured that it must be this Mother's Crown that commander had told him about._

 _John steeled his resolve and walked up that hill to Mother's Crown, all the while expecting to see flaming arrows flying toward him. So far none came flying. He next stopped upon doing a double take off to his left at something in the distance. At first he thought it was a strange land formation off in the distance, but it turned out to be the distant ruins of skyscrapers. He knew that was Colorado Springs because he also knew that Eleuthia Number Nine was to be built within Cheyenne Mountain, which was within sight of Colorado Springs._

 _John resumed his walk toward Mother's Crown, but there were still no flaming arrows. Not only that but he did not see anyone up at the top. He finally arrived before the gates without incident._

" _Hello! Is anybody in there?!" As he pounded upon them._

 _He got no answer. He tried the gates but they were locked. He looked around while puzzling over this strange absence from that fort and noticed a road down below on the rightside bypassing the fort. He decided to head down to it and was able to walk past Mother's Crown, again without incident as it loomed high up above with the cliff over him._

 _John eventually arrived before a heavily damaged wall of wooden posts sharpened to points. Most of the posts lay on the ground and the rest were tilting forward with the remains hanging off due to being fastened together with blue and white plastic cable. Its large double gates lay broken on the ground. John walked through with the knowledge that this must be an even more important area. So far no one was there to greet him, or more accurately stop him._

 _He gasped with fright upon seeing a monsterously huge Horus Titan perched atop a mountain as its near mile long tentacles were curled away from it throughout that landscape. He brushed his head briskly and exhaled through pursed lips. He next scanned it with his focus to read it as a Horus._

 _He next got a very faint energy signature off to one side. It was distant and too faint to get a clear reading on it, but he hoped that it was the focus of that girl, Aloy. He headed in the general direction of that distant signal, traveling through forest and brush while wondering why the Nora had yet to confront him. Given the presence of all the Chariot Line Models it might be possible that they could have all been devoured. It certainly would explain the lack of any reception._

 _He got ever closer to the source of the energy signature. Not only closer but lower as it seemed to come from the ground. He hoped that there was a passage into the ground or else it would have all been for nothing. That was when he arrived before a pit. Upon closer inspection it looked to be a cave. John gazed down into it to see water at the bottom. He wondered if he could get down there safely. A rope was in order and a long one at that._

 _A loud thunk startled John and he gasped to discover that it was a flaming arrow that had landed near him. Another one landed near him. Then another. And another still. John looked up to see a group of men and women hurrying toward him with bow, arrows, or spear in hand as they shouted with grim expressions. They must be the Nora._

 _John instinctively backed away, only for his footing to slip and he fell into the cavern, yelling on the way down. He landed in the water. It was deep enough to break his fall, yet shallow enough that he could stand up in it so that it was up to his waist. He checked his focus to find it still on his head._

 _John heard his attacker's voices up above and was quick to get out of the water and run. At first he did not know where to go but noticed two cave openings in the side of the rockface. He could hear his attackers up above._

" _. . . The intruder fell into that cave . . . !"_

" _. . . We can't go down there, it might be a ruin from the Metal World . . . !"_

" _. . . We also don't have any rope on us . . . !"_

" _. . . But there's no way he can get back up, so he's trapped down there . . . !"_

 _John was quick to crawl into one of the caves. He ended up having to deal with bats flying over his head. He reached a bend to discover two more cave tunnels and wondered which way to go. He positioned himself in front of the one on his side and turned to get an understanding of where to go and discovered that the cave tunnel he had crawled through was the same as the other one and met up here._

 _He turned and went into the other tunnel. It was a tight squeeze but he made it and was shocked to discover ruins from his time._

 _John looked around to see that it was one of the Project: Zero Dawn facilities. It had to be connected to the Eleuthia Subroutine. John walked through the place to see that the technology was still working after all this time as his focus showed him. He walked through the darkened place lit only by the soft glow of the screens and displays, and the various shafts of daylight from up above. A nearby rat scurried away, startling John into hoping that he did not encounter a swarm that could eat him alive._

 _He reached an area where a shaft of sunlight shone onto a skeleton that lay upon a nest of moss and flowers with its hand now raised and clawlike; as if that person when they were still alive was reaching for something upon their face but died midway and kept that position. John sighed drearily as he understood that this person was either one of the Betas or Gammas who worked here. He also got the feeling he would encounter more of them. He also noticed that it did not have its focus and wondered if perhaps a rat had taken it._

 _John walked through the underground facility, now ruined by the passage of time. Stalactites hung from the walls while stalagmites pointed up from the floor underneath them. Moss had grown throughout the place and puddles of water soak the floors, courtesy of the various openings in the ceiling that had opened up throughout the centuries. At some point in the future, the whole roof will collapse to expose this interior or at least bury it under more rock._

 _He entered another room where another skeleton lay on the floor and saw that this one still had its focus. He scanned that focus and to his eyes brought forth the image of a man kneeling on one knee and fiddling with what was no doubt the camera._

" _You think I want it this way?" The man grumbled. "It's the best I can do, he's right behind you." Then immediately changes his tone to wave, smile, then point. "Hi! Happy birthday Isaac! Daddy sure does love his little big man." A glitch and he is now wearing a party hat. "Look, Daddy can't be there with you and mom, but," pulling out a blowhorn, "we can still have a party, right? Sure we can." And he blows it._

* * *

"That was when I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that place was connected to Eleuthia Number Nine," John sighed. "It was because I knew that man. His name was Michael Jones and he was a Gamma who worked on the Eleuthia Subroutine."

"I remember watching that after I got my focus," Aloy said. "But why did he have to stay there? I thought it was only the Alphas who had to stay behind?"

"It had to do with the bulk of the military being unable to keep out the Swarm long enough and they collapsed sooner rather than later. So they . . . got trapped."

"That's too bad. What about the other dead in that place? Did you know any of them?"

"Not personally, but I did know enough about them. Anyway, my story is coming to the end, so the rest goes like this . . . I checked around the place for more skeletons and ended up finding another, also still wearing its focus. I scanned its focus to discover that this skeleton was once Ellen Evans, the Director of that facility. On her focus was a message about the military having collapsed that I had mentioned. The message further read that if anyone wanted to take their chances outside, then the lock will undo for fifteen minutes on one of the doors and then they could leave."

"That explains why that place was more empty than I had expected it to be."

"I continued searching around and found six more skeletons, all still wearing their focuses. I scanned them all and discovered who they all used to be . . . Conner Chasson, Skylar Rivera, Ella Pontes, Jackson Frye, Mia Sayied, and one who didn't leave his name. But I knew he was also named John Smith, though he had Ignatius and Piper for his middle names. I listened to their final thoughts, their regrets, their fond memories even. One had even recited poetry . . . The other John Smith on the other hand was critical of everyone just lining up to take their meds from Nurse Chandra like cattle being sent to a slaughter house. He believed that one should make a statement in going out, and he did so with a gunshot through the mouth that avoided damaging his focus. I'm surprised he got ahold of a gun because there weren't supposed to be any guns amongst the Betas and Gammas . . . Nevertheless, they all spoke in a manner that made me realize that they knew they were all going to die soon. With each recording that I listened to, my sorrow began building up . . . And you pretty much know how the rest of it turns out."

There is a minute of silence as John experiences a sense of finality from finishing his story and as Aloy mentally digests that story.

"What was it like?" Aloy next asked.

"You mean my world?" John asked.

"Yeah, Cyan did tell me a bit about it. About the billions of people and the problems that happened. About how something like one fifth of the human race died from the problems."

"Yeah, that was the fault of climate change. For centuries we were using fuel and technology that sent smoke high up into the atmosphere that trapped heat, causing the world to heat up. It caused severe storms and extreme temperatures that resulted in flooding out of coastlines and the sinking of various islands. It resulted in a massive movement of people and resulted in wars. When it was over, some two billion people had died. If you're wondering how much a billion is that's one thousand thousand thousand. And there was once ten billion people."

"So many people! But what amazes me was when Cyan told me about the Clawback Era. The time when you Old Ones began to recover from all those disasters."

"My parents grew up during the Troubled Times. They told me all about it. I even saw holos about it as well. They always told me about how scared they were that the world was going to end in disaster. They got married at the beginning of the Clawback Era and I was born two years later."

"What's even more amazing than the Clawback Era was how Ted Faro led it!" As skepticism tinged Aloy's tone.

"That's the biggest irony of it all. I mean, think about it. This was a man who created green technology, technology friendly to the environment. It helped saved the world and he was praised for it . . . Then he eventually created technology that ended it."

"Did you ever hear about Elisabet Sobeck before you were recruited into Project: Zero Dawn?"

"Oh yes I did. I first heard about her back when I was a kid. There was a news report about how she was being taken to court by Faro over intellectual copyright infringement."

"What's intellectual . . . copyright . . . infringement?"

"It's when you work for somebody and you end up stealing their ideas and profiting from them."

"A thief is somebody who takes things that don't belong to them and keeps it, all without the owner's permission. But stealing ideas? How is that even possible?"

"Well . . . A society or corporation is more than just the buildings and products it produces, it's the ideas that produced them. Ideas that will advance them sooner than others. Ideas that could be copied by other people who might find a way to overtake and surpass them. Ideas that were once their own that could be used against their own existence. Your people may not think of such but I bet these Oseram and Carja do because the more advanced a people become, the more ideas are going to matter to them."

"The Metal World sounded so complex."

"It couldn't be helped. It's the fate of civilizations when they keep advancing. But getting back to Dr. Sobeck's trouble with Faro, it was when I first learned about her. She had recently founded Miriam Corporation and Faro accused her of stealing his ideas. She made it clear that was not so because Faro was starting to produce machines for military applications, that being the Chariot Line Model, and she wanted nothing to do with that. She was instead focusing on green technology and she won awards for it. But he still wouldn't stop trying to get her into a court of law. He had over twenty lawsuits against her."

"I guess Ted Faro was just jealous of her success."

Another moment of silence.

"Were you Old Ones really so dependant on machines?" Aloy asked.

"Up until the eve of the Chariot Line Model going rogue, yes," John answered. "We depended upon them for almost everything."

"Was there ever a time when your kind did not depend upon machines?"

"Oh Aloy, you have no idea just how long us original humans were around for. Or this world for that matter. It's beyond ancient. There was a time when us Old Ones wore only animal skins and lived in caves, lean-tos made from tree branches, or tents made from animal skins. We used only sharpened pieces of stone for arrow heads, knives, and axes. And all before we ever discovered metal and farming, let alone machines. There was even a time when we original humans were not even in the form we currently are."

"Just how long were you Old Ones around for?!"

"Approximately . . . four to five million years. One million is one thousand thousand."

"F-Four to five m-million y-years ago!" As Aloy rasped with a look of awe.

"Other animals existed tens of millions of years before the rise of humans. They were called dinosaurs. They were lizards, some of which were massive. They were wiped out by an asteroid. A massive space boulder the size of a mountain that did about almost as much damage as the Faro Swarm. This world is nearly five billion years old. And the universe itself is over fourteen billion years old."

Aloy sat there with mouth wide open and eyes wide with shock. Her mind feels as if it is about to float away.

"If you think that boggles the mind, then you should've seen the size comparisons with what's out there in the universe. Our world. Other worlds that we share our sun with. The solar system being a part of a galaxy. And our galaxy being a part of the universe. Think about that when you look up at a clear night sky sometime, especially when there's no moon. Our knowledge of the universe surpasses the current knowledge of the universe by a thousand foldth. And even up to the eve of the Faro Swarm, we still didn't know all there was to know about the universe."

Aloy sighs as she slumps forward and buries her face into her hands. She then exhales loudly with a rasp and strokes her face and presses her fingers against her mouth. She slowly shakes her head ruefully.

"Now I hate Ted Faro even more," she grumbled.

"What do you mean by that?" John asked.

"I mean that it's time for me to tell you my story, so here goes . . . It all started when I was around six years old . . ."


	16. Chapter 15

John listens as Aloy speaks about how she had encountered some children who shunned her and she ran and fell into some ruins.

"Those ruins you found me within," John said.

"Yeah, those," Aloy answered.

She continues onward, explaining from when she found her focus all the way up to the eve of the Proving when she met Olin.

"The first man I met who owned a focus," John said.

"My meeting Olin was to affect my life in a way I never remotely imagined," Aloy continued.

John listens to Aloy explaining the attack that happened at the Proving Grounds, her mentor's death, and her waking up in All-Mother.

"It's amazing that you survived!" John gasped.

"What's even more amazing was when I found my stuff and read that other focus to discover what was on it," Aloy said.

"If you read it then, you can pass it on to my focus." As John leans forward.

"Ah, okay." Then fiddles with some controls visible only to her. "Here's what I found on that attacker's focus."

John watches as the man gives out his orders and winces. "Good lord what a vicious-looking man. It's a miracle you survived him!" He watches as the terrain of the Sacred Land comes into view and is next overlaid with Aloy speaking to Olin and go motionless.

Then have Elisabet Sobeck walking up next to Aloy and go motionless too. The genetic percentage superimposes over the both of them at 99.47%, then the capitalized word, terminate.

"It is no coincidence that you look like Dr. Sobeck," John mused in an earnest tone.

"That part is coming up next," Aloy said. "The High Matriarch, Teersa, came to me and told me to follow her. That I'll be meeting my mother. When I tried to ask, she said that my birth was not a normal one. To put it simply, she led me right up to a huge door and said that they had found me in front of it, even pointing to spot of where I was lying. She told me that it was my crying that got their attention. This is the blanket was was found wrapped in." As she briefly tugs on the scarf around her neck.

"Yes, I figured as much!" His tone hushed but awed with an expression to match as he slowly leans forward while reaching out to Aloy's face. "Gaia enacted the Lightkeeper Protocol and brought forth you: the clone of Dr. Sobeck!"

"That obvious to you," Aloy quipped as she is quick to brush John's hand aside, prompting him to retract it and sit back.

"So how did you feel when you were finally able to enter Eleuthia Number Nine?"

"Well now that was the problem, I couldn't. The computer couldn't read me so the door didn't open for me because of system corruption."

"That's strange." As John rubs his chin in thought. "But please, continue."

Aloy tells him of when she told the High Matriarch Teersa of how the attackers knew about her and what she had to do to get the means to lift the corruption over All-Mother's eyes. So they made her a Seeker, someone who could leave the Sacred Lands and return with impunity, to go to Meridian and find this Olin and get the answers she needed. Aloy continues on about how she arrived at the gates that left the Embrace and had to defeat a Scarab and the machines it corrupted. She talks about how after defeating it and its corrupted machines, she searched the Scarab and found a device on it that connected to her focus, learning that it was the means for overriding other machines. She explained how she tied it to the end of her spear, went out in search of a machine and found a Strider to use it upon; taming it so that she rode it to Meridian. She kept out the part of when she went off in search of War Chief Sona and her party and encouraging them to attack the attackers at Devil's Gulch, because it was not crucial to her story.

Aloy explains that she reached Day Tower, a Carja fort, and ended up having to destroy another Scarab and its corrupted machines that were attacking the place and was able to enter the place. She went on to Meridian and was able to contact Erend and told him what had happened. They went to check out Olin's place and discovered information that his family was kidnapped and threatened with death if he didn't cooperate.

"Good lord, I hope they were rescured," John said.

"I did help them," Aloy said. "But first I had to deal with Olin."

She talks about how she located him and was then contacted by a mysterious man who offered her aid by jamming the focus network of the Eclipse so that she could get to work. She killed the attackers, defeated their Corruptors, and confronted Olin. She talks of how Olin told her that her attackers were the remnants of the Mad Sun-King's army that formed a cult called the Eclipse and were led by the man named Helis, the Mad Sun-King's Champion. About how they learned about his scrounging and delving prowess and forcibly recruited him by kidnapping his family and threatening to kill them if he didn't cooperate. About how the Eclipse excavated them and hooked up a device into them that activated them. And then about Hades.

"I don't understand," John said with confusion. "Hades is just a Subroutine."

"That part is coming up if you'll just let me continue," Aloy sighed.

"I'm sorry. Please go on."

Aloy continues on about what Olin had told her about Hades, including the woman he saw at Maker's End and that it would be best if she went there for more answers. And how she then spared him and told him that she will help him rescue his family, and even did a detour first to save them. And was successful. She continued on with how she went to Maker's End and how along the way her benefactor spoke to her again and learned from him that the woman's name was Elisabet Sobeck. About how she reached Maker's End to find it crawling with Eclipse and their tamed machines. And about how she fought her way through the Eclipse camp and even destroyed a Kopesh.

"That's when I got to meet Hades," Aloy said. "Or more accurately, heard him. I picked a focus off of a commander and a red and black mist enveloped me and it spoke in that terrible voice. Here, have a listen."

John sits there as the image of Hades is sent into his focus. He watches and shudders.

"What a horrible voice?! What happened to it?! But of course you'll be able to tell me that, right?"

"Yes," Aloy said. "After it blew up that focus, I next went into the cave and discovered that door too, which spoke in the same voice for my identiscan; only that this one opened for me and greeted me as Dr. Sobeck."

"Can I say something before you continue?" John asked.

"What is it?"

"You couldn't enter the Eleuthia cradle, but you could enter Faro Automated Solutions."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, you should've been able to enter the Eleuthia cradle in the first place, or be unable to enter Faro Automated Solutions. Either way, all of the facilities that had anything to do with Project: Zero Dawn are interconnected. Meaning if you could enter one of those places, you could enter them all. But oddly, you couldn't enter the Eleuthia cradle."

"Maybe the corruption that affected the Eleuthia cradle was contained there?"

"That's logical. Those places have emergency programs to deal with corruption so that it gets contained at that place. Not only that but any member of Project: Zero Dawn has the right to enter such facilities, but it didn't let me in."

"Maybe it never thought that the Betas and Gammas would be around and purged that list, leaving only the Alphas on it in case of the Lightkeeper Protocol. Anyway, may I continue?"

"Yes by all means."

Aloy continues on about how once inside, the voice told her that she was over three hundred and fifty-five thousand days overdue for her appointment with Ted Faro, then set about exploring the place. She learned about the origins of the Corruptors and Deathbringers and the purpose of the building. About the people who worked there, especially its founder, Ted Faro. Or had as in the case of Doctor Elisabet Sobeck. About climbing all the way up to the top of the building where the office of Ted Faro was located.

"Ted's office had become fully exposed to the outside and had been that way for probably hundreds of years," Aloy said. "The point is that Ted's computer managed to survive intact. It asked me if I wanted to invoke my Alpha privilages to access the data and I agreed. I found three seperate images of Elisabet and Ted's meetings. Here, have a watch."

John picks up the recordings, watching and listening to them intently. Afterwards, he smirks and snickers briefly as he gives a brief shake of his head.

"That . . . That don't surprise me one bit," he mused. "I mean . . . everyone knew that they were Faro's machines, and everyone understood that something had gone wrong with them. Though I am amused at how Dr. Sobeck blackmailed him into bankrolling the project."

"Anyway, to continue," Aloy said. "As I was about to leave, my mysterious helper from when I aided Olin spoke to me again. I got fed up and wanted to see him and he finally revealed himself."

"Describe him. Maybe I met him."

"Bald headed, very dark skin with blue cables running through it. Has a deadly serious demeanour. His name is Sylens."

"Okay. But . . . blue cables running through his skin?"

"It's a Banuk thing. They're a tribe that live to the north of here. Their shamans thread blue cables through their own skin. I helped a group with that artificial intellgence named Cyan."

"Yeah, you did tell me about Cyan."

"I managed to free Cyan and even had a conversation with her."

"What did you free Cyan from?"

"I'll explain that later. Let me continue with my story."

"Sure."

Aloy tells John about how Sylens told her to go to the Grave Hoard that is north of here and at the edge of the Cut, Banuk lands. She tells him about the Eclipse she had to fight off once inside and was confronted by a Kopesh that she also defeated.

"Wow, you really are a one-woman army!" John marveled. "So did you find what you were looking for in there?"

"You bet I did," Aloy verified, then leaned forward. "Here's what I saw of the world."

John picks up the image of Earth, along with those ever growing portions of red to denote the spread of the Faro Swarm.

"It's hard to believe that there's so much of this world," Aloy said with wonder. "But here's the holo recording of Elisabet with your War Chiefs."

John watches the conference that Dr. Sobeck had with the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"And next you went to the Orbital Launch Site," John said.

"Actually I had to go somewhere else first," Aloy said.

Aloy tells John about how Sylens told her to go to the marker on her focus map so that he could give her instructions on how to destroy the Eclipse relay network and explains why she needed to destroy it. She explains how she infiltrated the Eclipse base at nightfall and found a dismantled Tallneck that acted as their relay station. Then how she ended up meeting Hades for a second time, but managed to destroy the relay and the whole base went into an uproar. About how she managed to escape with her life and Sylens then contacted her afterwards and she accused him of putting her in danger because he knew that Hades was in there.

"Of course he said that he knew I could overcome it," Aloy said snidely.

"Wait, but if that network was destroyed," John said curiously, "then how was Sylens able to retain contact with you?"

"I think it was because he managed to link his focus up to mine somehow before that happened. I don't really know, but that's the most logical explaination."

"But with the Eclipse network down, you were able to go into Sunfall without Hades seeing you and alerting the Eclipse to you, right?"

"Right. I went into the Orbital Launch Site, but not without problems as the computer had to make a lot of noise to open that door by venting the air out and alerting the Eclipse to my whereabouts. I made my way through the interior, but Eclipse soldiers made it inside and I had to get rid of them. I found General Herres' recording and next Elisabet Sobeck's."

"You don't need to show me their recordings because I already saw them, remember?"

"Yeah, that's right. Afterwards, I went looking for the Alpha Data Registry so that I could clear up the corruption to access the Eleuthia cradle back in the Embrace. I found it and was about to leave when more Eclipse showed up and attacked me, and this time Helis was with them and managed to knock me out."

Aloy goes on to tell John about how she awoke within a cage in the Sun-Ring, stripped of her gear and focus. How Helis was there to taunt her and tell her that he now served the Sun in Shadow. About how he was going to do its will and take back Meridian.

"He next picked up my original focus and crushed it between his fingers." Bitterness in her tone. "And set me down to be prey to machines. But not before revealing that he ordered the Eclipse to attack the Sacred Lands before I could destroy their focus network. I fought them and managed to hold them off, until Sylens showed up with two Striders and three Sawtooths in tow. The Sawtooths attacked the machines and Sylens pulled me up and we rode out of there. We stopped when we were far enough away and he gave me a new focus with all of the information that he downloaded onto it."

"That one right there." As John pointed to the side of Aloy's face.

"Right. Now then. I returned to the Sacred Lands and fought my way through the Eclipse and their machines, which also included corrupted ones such as a Thunderjaw. I helped the Nora fight and kill them all until we were victorious. I went into Mother's Watch where the rest of the Nora were taking refuge, something that doesn't normally happen. It was there that I was able to enter Eleuthia and learned the truth about my existence. Here, have a look."

Aloy shows John. He watches the recordings of the first new humans growing and learning in their environment. Their fusses over not being able to see the real sun; their troubled adolescence; and their inability to enter a certain door that led to a violent confrontation.

"That's where Apollo is located," John noted.

He watches when the first new humans were released from Eleuthia and the reason for it.

"So they ran out of food," John said despondently. "They should've been able to produce their own food by then, but they couldn't and all because something went wrong with the Apollo program." His tone turns to awe. "But that aside, it's amazing that the first new humans learned to survive in the resurrected world and went on to form the tribes of today in North America!"

"Is that the name of this land?" Aloy asked.

"Back then it was, but in the future you new humans will call it by some other name."

"There's something I want to know that I never thought of until now: just how many Eleuthia cradles are out there across the world?"

"Including number nine, there's ten in total."

"It's hard to believe that there are more Eleuthia cradles out there. More people who probably worship them as the All-Mother too. But to continue. When I entered Apollo, I discovered that it was offline. I went further in to an area where I found a message sent by Gaia that she left for Elisabet Sobeck. Here it is."

Aloy shows him Gaia's message. John watches as Gaia explains how three microseconds ago, a signal of unknown origin hacked her databanks and gave sapience to her Subroutines, causing them to act up. How Hades tried to hijack the terraforming system and had to be shackled down, only for Hades to send out a virus to destroy those shackles, and how the now sapient Subroutines escaped to parts unknown. Then how Gaia sent a message to Eleuthia Number Nine to produce a clone of Dr. Sobeck as it knew about the Nora living there so that she may be raised by them.

And finally, how Gaia sent another message to overload Gaia Prime's generators so that it would blow up, preventing Hades from hijacking the terraforming system.

John sat there dumbfounded. "G-Gaia destroyed herself to . . . to save the world?!" His throat tightens as his eyes grow misty from the awe that grows in him. The humility. "G-Gaia . . . l-loved!"

"She did, Jawn," Aloy said empathetically. "She did."

"It also explains your existence: Gaia was trying to correct the terraforming system. And I now understand about Hades. It caused the Derangement."

"No, that was Hephaestus' doing. It had come to consider us humans a threat to its machines and has ordered them to attack us. It had even built new machines such as the Thunderjaw, the Sawtooth, and the Stalker specifically to deal with us."

"Having one Subroutine hostile to humans is bad enough, but another?! But what about the origin of that signal then?"

"So I take it that you don't know either?"

"Absolutely none."

"What does it take to create artificial intelligence, Jawn? And how long?"

"A subroutine is first created, so as to serve as a foundation. Now, it can take several months to create an artificial intelligence. I know that's how long it took Dr. Sobeck to create Gaia."

"So what're your thoughts about that signal then?"

"Let me see if I got this straight: you revealed to me that a signal made all of Gaia's Subroutines fully sapient just like that," snapping his fingers for emphasis. "I'm sorry, Aloy. I have absolutely no idea how that was possible."

"So that signal's always gonna be a mystery then . . . Anyway, once I came back outside, the attitude towards me had changed. People who hated me now accepted me, especially one of the High Matriarchs who despised me from the beginning." Her voice breaking gruffly.

"You sound upset."

"I am! All my life I was spurned and scorned for no reason other than I was born in an unnatural manner! And then they think they can just forget how they treated me?"

"They made a mistake, Aloy. And besides, you must've had allies even before then, right?"

Aloy nods sheepishly. "Teersa, one of the High Matriarchs. She saw my birth as something wonderful and defended me. There was another Nora whom I helped saved when I was a little girl. Teb's his name. Then there was War Chief Sona and her son after I was made a Seeker."

"There, you see now, Aloy? You had friends amongst the Nora, even when most of the others still shunned you."

"Yeah. Now to continue my story."


	17. Chapter 16

Aloy tells John about how Sylens had told her that a part of Gaia Prime had survived intact and that he had set up a workshop in there, but could not enter the rest of area and figured that she would be the best one to enter it. He surmised that there would be a Master Override in there that would give her full access to the terraforming system and purge Hades. She explains how she had arrived at the foot of the mountain and had to fight a Stormbird on her way up. Once at the site, she was contacted by Sylens who told her to make her way through the door that he had been unable to get through. She tells John about how she made her way through the ruined place and into an area where Elisabet Sobeck stayed. About how she found the memorial for her and shows him the image of that memorial and the recording of her sacrifice.

John's lips tighten as he watches Elisabet Sobeck saying her goodbyes to the other Alphas, saying that she was going home, then turning her back to them and walking away.

"Wow," he sighed. "I mean . . . even though we were told about it, but to actually see how it all played out like that . . . It's . . . It's really something else."

"I found her after this whole problem with Hades was dealt with," Aloy said.

"You did?! Where?!"

"She was at her home still wearing her enviro-suit as she lay prone on a stone bench outside. This was in her hands." As she fumbles around in her bag and hands John a small globe.

"It's amazing how this remained in her hand during the past hundreds of years." As he looks it over intently, then hands it back to Aloy. "It's even more amazing how her body wasn't disturbed in all that time."

"But before that could come to pass," as she puts her globe away, then turns to face John, "there was the matter of dealing with Hades. I found the place where the Master Override was located. It was behind a set of doors still intact that overlooked the massive crater where the explosion occurred. I went inside and found the Alphas together, hundreds of years dead. Before I found the Master Override, here is the recording of what I found . . . Oh, and Jawn, I have to warn you." Her tone grim. "You are not going to like this."

"Just do it," he said with soft concern.

He receives the recording from Aloy and watches. His face suddenly goes pale as his eyes and mouth widen with shock. His face next turns red as his expression changes to rage and begins shaking while clenching his fists. His breathing turning to hisses through gnashed teeth. Tears flow down his cheeks and he slumps over looking on the verge of having a screaming fit.

"That . . . ! THAT FUCKING BASTARD!"

John next bends over to bury his face into his arms and starts crying.

"Fifteen months!" He lamented while still in that position. "Fifteen fucking months I worked on Apollo every single fucking day from dawn to the dead of fucking night! My breaks were only to eat, drink, piss, or shit! And that fucker purged it all in an instance, then murdered the Alphas! GOD FUCKING DAMN HIM!"

John continues to spew curses about Ted Faro while continuing in lie in that position until he goes quiet. He slowly raises himself back into a sitting position. He has that thousand yard stare with reddened teary eyes. Aloy gives him an empathetic look.

"I'm sorry, Jawn," she cooed as she reaches over and touches his shoulder. "I'm sorry that I had to show you."

He nods wearily. "If anyone needs to apologize, it's Faro." Spitting his name like a curse as he looks away as if at something distant. "He claimed he was preserving your innocence, but all he was doing was preserving his own reputation. He didn't want you new humans cursing his name."

John suddenly snickers as he briefly giggles.

"What's so funny?" Aloy asked uneasily.

"I was just thinking about General Herres," he answered as he looks back at Aloy with a whimsical expression. "He admitted to deceiving the whole world with Operation: Enduring Victory and having people abducting for Dr. Sobeck."

"So?"

"So!" He rasped incredulous. "Herres could have kept that a secret and that would've been the end of it! But he not only admitted it, he made a formal confession of it! Going so far as to demand that it be part of Apollo, unaltered . . . ! I should know because I'm the one who uploaded it. Unaltered."

"Amazing, Herres didn't care about his reputation while Faro was obsessed with his own."

"And now the world won't know who Aaron Herres was, all because of Faro." Despondency was in John's tone as he stares off in the distance with that thousand yard stare once again. "It's all gone . . . Our knowledge, our history, our culture. All gone."

"No, not gone. There's you." As she clasps his arm. "And probably more like you."

"But I already told you, Aloy, no one else knows that I'm an Old One. And I'd really like to keep it that way."

"You really don't wanna tell anyone else?"

"There were times that I wanted to . . . But I didn't because I knew that I would be treated either as a freak or a liar. More likely a liar . . . Look, I just wanna live a new life in this new world, okay . . . ? Now then, what about the Master Override? You found it, right?"

"Right. It was in the room with the Alphas. I then made my way out of Gaia Prime where Sylens awaited me in person. And what he told me was shocking . . ."

Aloy tells John about what Sylens had told her. About how he was searching the world for more knowledge about the end of the Old Ones and discovered Hades in the ruins of a Horus as his focus had picked up its signal. Hades offering Sylens knowledge about the Metal World in exchange for help. And about how he helped Hades find the remnants of the Mad Sun-King's army and introduced them to Hades as their new god and forming a cult around him.

"You mean to tell me," John rasped, "that the man who helped you on your journey of retribution and self-discovery . . . was the one who helped create that cult that started all this in the first place?!"

"Ironic isn't it?" Aloy quipped.

"You can say that again!"

"But if it means anything, Hades turned on him and ordered his death."

"Ah, so it's more like Sylens was getting payback rather than feeling guilty in his part over all this. But after you talked with him, then what?"

"He told me to take his lance and attach the Master Override to it. And then I went on my way, and that was the last time I saw him. I'm sure he's still out there somewhere. Anyway, here's the end of my story . . . I hurried to Meridian and warned Sun-King Avad about the imminent Eclipse attack on Meridian. I went out to check the defenses and even went up to the Spire to have a talk with the Nora who came. I went to rest in the house that Olin had stayed in. Later on, a soldier awakened me to tell me that an attack was coming from the west. The Eclipse army attacked with the Faro machines as their front line of offense. Helis attacked and I faced him one finally time, managing to kill him. Then I hurried down to help take on and destroy a number of machines using an Oseram cannon. They suck in metal parts and launch them. Eventually, a Kopesh came forth and launched more missiles toward me, knocking me down. As I was losing consciousness, I saw that Kopesh dragging Hades behind it up to the Spire. When I came to, I got up and hurried through a ruined and burning city all the way up to the Spire and confronted Hades. But first we had to deal with that Kopesh and more machines. With the help of the Nora and Oseram, we prevailed against them and I was able to simply walk up to Hades and jam Sylen's lance into it and purge Hades. After that, there was a celebration and I went West and found Elisabet Sobeck. And that's the whole story."

John stares at Aloy as he mentally digests that whole story.

"Th-That's just so amazing!" he said respectfully as he raises his hands to momentarily press his fingers to his forehead. "Just think about it!" Flicking his hands outward. "If you had died at any point between the moment you were placed outside of Eleuthia as a babe and before you purged Hades, then life would have gone extinct for the second, and final, time!"

"I see your point," Aloy said.

"One person can make a difference."

There is a moment of silence.

"And now we have to deal with Hephaestus," Aloy said.

"You mean with the Derangement, right?" John asked.

"Yes, when I was up in a place called the Cut, it was where I encountered machines that were daemonic. They were under the control of Cyan, but there was another artificial intelligence that had ahold of her, who turned out to be Hephaestus. To make a long story short, I managed to free her from Hephaestus' hold. Cyan revealed to me that she was busy for hundreds of years with her work and doing tasks to occupy herself. She received a message from another artificial intelligence. Eagerly, she extended an invitation and was immediately attacked and taken over by Hephaestus. Here's the thing: Hephaestus wasn't actually in Cyan, but controlling her from elsewhere."

"Then that means Hephaestus is still out there somewhere. And like Hades, has a core to operate from."

"Right. So if I could just find Hephaestus, I could purge-No, rewrite him."

"Okay, so where do you think Hephaestus is?"

"I was hoping you would know, Jawn."

"And what makes you think I would know? It is because I'm an Old One?"

"It's because you worked on Project: Zero Dawn."

"Well, since you put it that way, I think Hephaestus is within a quantum processor unit."

"You mean like the kind that Hades was within and being dragged up to the Spire?"

"It's the hardware that's needed for housing an artificial intelligence."

"Just like the other one to the north near the Cut!" Her tone a gasp of realization.

"So what's the story behind the other one?"

"It was in a Banuk camp, in an area where the machines were quiet and peaceful. I went there and saw machines just standing around amongst the Banuk. There were even Glinthawks perched up above. You could walk right up to those machines and touch them and they wouldn't even react. I wanted to know how all that was possible, so I asked around the camp. But none of the Banuk knew why either and their shamans were listening to the machine songs. The Banuk make a big deal about songs and something called the Blue Light. They believe that the spirits of machines come from the Blue Light, then return to it. Anyway, I picked up a signal high above on a cliff and went to investigate. I came upon some Oseram messing with one of those quantum processor units in a pit. I convinced them to leave and they did so. That unit was giving off a signal that was quieting the machines in its vicinity; unfortunately, the Oseram had been tampering with it and ended up breaking it."

"And the machines back down below turned violent once again."

"Yes."

"I think that unit was blown there all the way over from Gaia Prime. Those quantum processor units are pretty tough."

"But there was no Subroutine housed in it."

"No, but it was giving off a signal to quell the machines. So what I'm deducing is that when the Subroutines escaped, they escaped into the closest device that was capable of housing their already enhanced intelligence. The one Hades stayed within was blown all the way over and into a Horus. And frankly, I'm surprised that he wasn't able to activate that Horus. I guess it must've been too damaged to be of any help to him."

"But as for Hephaestus, all we have to do is find that quantum processor unit housing Hephaestus and then I can rewrite him. But where to look?"

"That's the question."

Aloy and John sit there in silence while thinking about the question. The sun is close to setting.

"It's gonna be dark soon," John said. "I think we should camp out up here for the night."

"Yeah, you're right," Aloy answered. "And hopefully tomorrow we'll have the answer as to where we can find Hephaestus."

Aloy and John set up camp on the upper floor of that ruined building. The following early morning is relatively clear and they are up.

"Do you have an answer for finding Hephaestus?" Aloy asked.

"No unfortunately," John answered. "And since you asked me such a question, it can only mean that you haven't either. However . . . if we can't find the answer as to where Hephaestus is, then we should focus on how Hephaestus was able to program the machines to attack humans."

"Since that's the question, then the answer must be through the relay stations set up by Minerva. After all, Hades wanted to get to the one outside of Meridian."

"And he did obviously, because he managed to raise a lot of them far and wide."

"But he had not gained full access to the relay system just yet. So he would not have been able to raise all of the Faro machines worldwide just yet."

"Aloy, what if . . . ? What if Hades was not actually trying to gain access to the relay system . . . ? What if Hades . . . was trying to become a part of it?"

"Download himself into the relay system? That actually makes a lot of sense. I didn't think of it because Hades was inside that quantum processor unit and I wasn't thinking he would wanna leave it."

"The point is that Hephaestus might not be in a quantum processor unit."

"Because he's in the relay system!" As Aloy points at John in a eureka moment. "That explains the Derangement! It's because Hephaestus was able to get into the relay system! So all we have to do is force Hephaestus out of there and into a quantum processor unit! Like the one up at the Spire!"

"I'm sorry, Aloy, but that's just not gonna work."

"Why not?"

"Because there must be thousands of relay towers out there all over the world, and Hephaestus is occupying them all simultaneously. Attack one and he'll just abandon it because he has the rest to go on. In order to trap him, we would need to have a quantum processor unit hooked up to every single tower out there working simultaneously."

"But something still needs to be done about Hephaestus. He's determined to wipe out the human race because he wants to protect his machines."

"And I agree. But what else can we do about him? And besides, you new humans have pretty much held your own against the machines for the past twenty years, including the ones created to deal with you."

"And that's the problem, Jawn. Machines have been getting more dangerous since then, with each new type of machine turning out to be deadlier than the last. For all that we know, Hephaestus right now could be devising another type of machine that just might actually succeed in wiping out humans. And unlike the last time, we'll be gone forever."

"Hopefully we'll figure out how to deal with Hephaestus by going to wherever we need to go to next. Now let's have some breakfast before going on our way."

* * *

Far to the west, the Forbidden West to these new humans, and within the Rocky Mountains is another Cauldron. Inside and on its force field encased construction platform a machine is being constructed as guns whirling about it on machine arms firing lasers like lightening bolts. The machine in question is a featureless silvery block as large as a two-story house.

The force field disappears as the guns rise from the object in question. For a moment there is silence. That is when another one of the Cauldron's gun-like tools quickly lowers itself to that object and starts to continuously shoot a lightening-like bolt at it. The object suddenly makes a droning sound, along with the quick muted sounds of clinking and clanking from within it.


	18. Chapter 17

Aloy and John leave the ruins of Colorado Springs.

"Aloy," he said, "when you arrived at that relay tower over in Meridian, you had to spend some time in fighting off the machines protecting Hades."

"Yeah, that's right," she verified. "What's your point?"

"My point is that I think Hades was having to deal with Hephaestus by having to either overwhelm him or negotiate with him. My money is on negotiations because Hephaestus doesn't care about life itself, just its own machines. Machines that were enslaved by the Scarabs and Hephaestus was probably not liking that."

"That does explain why Hades was slow in uploading itself. After all, Hephaestus does currently occupy all of the relay towers."

"Not only that but there's also Minerva to consider, since the relay systems were originally designed for Minerva to shut down the Faro robots. When Hephaestus took over the relay system, he not only had to suppress Minerva but he had to keep her suppressed; so he couldn't effectively keep Hades out."

"It does explain why Hades was able to resurrect part of the Faro Swarm . . . Wait! That's it!"

"What's it?"

"We've been talking about Hades and Hephaestus going rogue and making things miserable for us humans, but what about the other Subroutines?!"

"That's right! The other Subroutines also have human level intelligence now!"

"And they're still out there!"

"Except for Apollo. Faro purged that, remember? Along with every other copy too."

"But judging by the message that Gaia had left for Elisabet Sobeck inside Eleuthia Number Nine, I saw all nine Subroutines present in Gaia's message as the Subroutines were escaping, as I'm sure you did too, Jawn."

"That's right, I did! So he must've only ended up purging Apollo's contents instead of its existence! So it means Apollo's still out there."

"And if Hephaestus was unable to keep Hades out because he was having to deal with Minerva, what if the other Subroutines were to impose themselves upon the relay towers all at once?"

"They could overwhelm Hephaestus . . . ! But . . . Where are the rest of them?"

"We know for a fact that they escaped when Hades released that virus to unshackle itself and the others, and right before Gaia self-destructed. So like Hades, Hephaestus, and Minerva, the rest are still out there somewhere."

"How did this Sylens find Hades again?"

"Hades was trapped within a Horus and kept giving off a distress signal that Sylens picked up on his focus."

"Then that means there's a possibility that the other Subroutines are giving off their own distress signals as well. So it's really just a matter of finding those signals. But we just can't go meandering all over the world trying to find them, Aloy. I bet this Sylens wasn't trying to find Hades to begin with."

"But we can still use a relay tower to do that. Jawn, you said that if a relay tower was put under attack upon Hephaestus, he'll just leave it and maintain the rest. Well, we can drive him out of one, then use it to get a greater range for the signals of our focuses."

"Like the one in Meridian," they next said simultaneously as they casually pointed at each other.

"Then what're we standing around here for?" John asked rhetorically.

"We need to get there by mounts," Aloy said, "unfortunately for you." As she raises her fingers and whistles, making their tamed Broadheads arrive. John sighs as he mounts one and Aloy the other. "But first . . . we return to the Sacred Lands, to the Embrace. There, I can stock up on what I need."

The duo return to the Sacred Lands and stop before the gates that lead into the Embrace.

"We need to abandon the mounts here while we're in there," Aloy said as she slides off her mount.

"Gladly," John said as he follows suit, and together the duo walk into the Embrace.

"Is it okay for me to be here?" John asked fretfully.

"If you stay close to me, they probably won't bother you," Aloy answered assuredly.

"Probably," he said dryly. "And please don't tell anyone I'm an Old One."

Aloy and John soon encounter Nora. They react to her as expected.

". . . The Annointed as returned . . . !"

". . . She's with that outlander we chased . . . !"

". . . Doesn't look like a Carja . . . "

". . . What's she doing with him . . .?"

"Oh man, it's cold," John sighed with a shiver.

"I don't find it cold," Aloy said.

"No, but their stares are."

"Bear with it, Jawn."

Aloy and John make their way up to the ruins of Mother's Watch. The Nora are out and about making repairs and rebuilding homes. Naturally, they take a moment to stop and take note of their Annointed, and the stranger she went into the ruins to confront.

". . . It's the Annointed . . . !"

". . . Look, she has that intruder who was cornered in those ruins . . . !"

". . . What's he doing by her side . . .?"

"I still can't help but get that pre-lynching feeling," John confided to Aloy.

They arrive before Karst, the merchant who dealt with Aloy while she was an outcast and who was once an outcast himself for spelunking the ruins.

"So you came back with the outlander," Karst said.

"Yeah, I came to buy some supplies," Aloy admitted.

"Going back out into the outer world again," Karst said dryly. "And what's the deal with him being found in those ruins?"

"I fell in," John said. "Having arrows shot at me and then seeing people running toward me with spears caused me to not watch my step and fall."

"I guess you must have a lucky streak, stranger," Karst said.

"You guessed right," John said, thinking about how he got to be here in this day and age.

They get the stuff they need and are on their way.

"Aloy," a familiar voice called.

"High Matriarch Teersa," she replied.

"I see that you have returned with the outsider in question."

"We had a discussion and reached an understanding," Aloy said as she gestured between herself and John.

"And what is this understanding?" Teersa asked.

"That," Aloy began with hesitance, "something might be done about the Derangement."

"What?" Teersa mused.

"Twenty years ago the machines became hostile to us humans," Aloy said. "Worse, more dangerous machines designed to deal with us began to appear. What I am saying is that there might be a way to end the Derangment."

This invokes chatter from those around them.

". . . End the Derangement . . . ?!"

". . . Is that even possible . . . ?!"

". . . The Annointed did end the Metal Devil's attempts to resurrect its armies . . . !"

"But how would that be possible?" Teersa mused.

"That's complicated," Aloy answered. "But it's better to try and do something about it, don't you think? Because someday, we might end up having to confront whatever new machine that comes along. And it just might succeed in killing everyone everywhere. So we only stopped by long enough to prepare and then we'll be on our way. And hopefully we can bring about the end of the Derangement."

"Then the All-Mother see that you succeed," Teersa said.

Aloy and John leave.

"Annointed," someone else called.

"War Chief Sona," Aloy greeted.

"Why did you bring the outsider back here?"

John recognized the Black woman with the long straight grey-streaked hair. She has that hardness in her eyes of someone who is used to killing. And the young man with her must be her son.

"We were conversing out at Devil's Thirst about the whole Derangement," Aloy answered as she briefly gestured between herself and John, "and we came to a conclusion that it might be possible to end it."

"End the Derangement?" Varl questioned.

"It's not a guarantee but we want to do something about it," Aloy answered.

"And you are certain that it can be done?" Sona asked.

"Of course it can't be done," a man said severely.

They look to see a man with a series of cornrows in his hair walk up to them.

"You think this motherless chuff and this outsider will save the world?" He snapped.

"Resh," Sona stated coldly. "How long do you insist on carrying a grudge against the Annointed? Even those who hated her, such as High Matriarch Lansra, had repented."

"It's been nigh twenty years since the Derangement has troubled the world," Resh said. "She was born shortly after it had begun."

"Resh! This is getting ridiculous!" Varl snapped. "We managed to stop the Metal Devil from raising the rest its armies again. I was there as was mo-I mean War Chief Sona, as we watched Aloy slew it! And its army went back to being dead again."

"Forget it, guys," Aloy sighed with frustration. "No matter what I do, he won't admit he was wrong to hate me because he's too proud. So instead of getting another headache, we'll be leaving. And hopefully we will achieve the end of the Derangement."

Aloy and John leave.

"That Resh fellow," John said as he glanced back for an instance. "What's his problem with you?"

"My existence," Aloy answered dryly.

"That's it?"

"That's it. Sometimes that's all it takes to anger people."

"Why do you suppose there are people who behave that way?"

"I think they have a deeply rooted contempt for people who don't seem to fit in with the natural order of things, which certainly doesn't apply to me since I was born from a glass vat."

"Anotherwords, they love the natural order of things more than the people within it."

The duo leave the Embrace and Aloy locates their tamed Broadheads once again.

"Can you override any kind of machine?" John asked as he touches the chassis of his mount.

"Only the Chariot Line Model is immune to this," Aloy said. "Ironic when I got this device off of a Scarab." Then mounts up. "Okay, follow me."

John mounts up and they are off with Aloy in the lead. Aloy halts her steed, compelling John to stop upon getting within sight of a place that Aloy knows.

"Okay, here's where we have to ditch the mounts," she said as she gets off, prompting John to get off his too. "That's Day Tower over there, so we won't be able to pass through on these machines. But we can get a new pair once were past it."

"Good, we could stand to walk for a bit," John quipped and falls in step with her as they walk toward the Carja fort.

The duo pass through the open gates where some of the guards greet them, especially Aloy. There are other people inside mulling about as it looks like a hamlet. Snow even falls at times since it is cooler up at this altitude. They pass through Day Tower, and this time Aloy locates a pair of Striders to override so that they can continue on to Meridian.

By midday, the duo are within sight of Meridian and Aloy halts, causing John to do the same.

"Okay, this is where we continue on foot," Aloy said as she gets off the Strider.

"Glad to," John sighed as he slides off his own. "My butt is sore." His legs buckle underneath him for a moment but regains his composure.

Aloy sends the Striders away, then she and John look to Meridian, most notably at the Spire.

"So all we have to do is go up there and drive Hephaestus out of that relay tower," John said. "Any ideas as to how to get the quantum processor unit up and running?"

"If Sylen's lance is still stuck in it," Aloy explained, "I can use it to power up the unit and attempt to draw Hephaestus into it. If what you say is true, Hephaestus will abandoned that relay tower during its operation and we'll be able to use it to boost our focuses broadcast signal."

"The last time I was up there, that lance was still stuck within it. But for all that I know, somebody could have come along and removed it after I had left."


	19. Chapter 18

Aloy and John walk toward Meridian. As they get closer, there are more people. People who take notice of her as they know who she is and what she did.

". . . It's that Nora girl, Aloy . . . !"

". . . The hero of Meridian . . . !"

". . . She's returned from the Forbidden West . . . !"

". . . Who's that with her . . . ?!"

"I kept hearing about the impact you made upon these people," John remarked, "but to actually see it in person is incredible."

"I certainly did," Aloy said dryly.

"Shy are you? Well, look at it this way. They're thankful that you stopped those Eclipse from having their way. And stopping Hades from causing the Faro Swarm the second time around."

As they head toward the city, they veer off and up towards the Spire. Just as John had explained, there are impromptu wooden bridges set down to deal with the missing bridges or parts of earth.

"Repairmen were certainly quick to repair the path up to the Spire," Aloy noted. "And they did such a good job too. Back when I was running up here to fight Hades, the Kopesh that dragged him up there had pretty much wrecked the path on its way up."

The duo arrive at the Spire and up to the quantum processor unit next to the relay tower.

"Oh, his lance is still there," John remarked pleasantly upon seeing that Sylens' lance is still stuck in it.

Aloy walks up to it and gingerly touches it, only to quickly clasp it while growling as if to pull it out.

"I can't believe that Sylens!" Her tone furious. "He used me to send Hades to him!"

"Now I understand why you got so angry yesterday," John noted. "But it doesn't make any sense. Why would he want to save Hades?"

"For knowledge." As she turns to John. "He once told me that after he found Hades, it taught him some Old One knowledge. There was even an undertone of anger in him after we had learned why Apollo had failed. His lance no doubt has some sort of modification to make it appear that I purged Hades when it actually suppressed him. Then Sylens bided his time to insure that I wasn't around so that he could activated some sort of signal to send Hades right to him."

"Then if that's the case, he must've also made certain to insure that Hades wouldn't be a threat anymore. This Sylens most likely has him contained within some sort of device, mostly likely a Faraday Cage. It's a cage that protects electronic equipment from electromagnetic pulses, but it just might also serve as a prison for Hades."

Aloy growls once more in frustration. "Does he really believe he can handle Hades?!"

"Apparently he believes he can."

"And what if Hades were to outsmart him?!"

"Focus, Aloy, focus." As John repeatedly snaps his fingers. "Why are we here in the first place?"

She makes a long loud sigh. "To clear the Spire long enough for us to try and expand our scanning for one of the other Subroutines out there."

"Right. Worrying about Sylens is not gonna help us do that. So right now, you have to power up this quantum processor unit and threaten Hephaestus with it."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," as she turns to the quantum processor unit. "It's just . . . Hades is still out there."

Aloy touches the unit to start it up.

"Oh great," she groaned.

"What's wrong?" John asked.

"I was gonna use the power on that lance to kick-start the unit, but it's ruined now. I guess my last confrontation with Hades must've burned it out."

"So what can be done about it?"

"Well," as she turns to face John while looking off in thought and briefly scratching her brow, "I suppose a Thunderjaw heart should do. Hopefully, there's one being sold in the market down below."

"And if not?"

"Then I'll just have to go hunting."

Aloy and John head down into Meridian and search throughout its marketplace for a Thunderjaw heart. They have no such luck.

"Let's go check out the Hunter's Lodge," Aloy said. "Since I'm a member, they had a store there where members can by things that are not usually available in the markets."

"The place where I met that woman," John said.

"Talanah, my sponsor."

"Do you think they might have a Thunderjaw heart in stock?

"Hopefully."

The duo head over to the Hunter's Lodge and look around for Talanah. They soon find her.

"Ah, my Thrush," Talanah said happily. "So you return with the man who came here." She stares at John for a moment. "Yes, I see now that he was telling the truth after all. My apologies, ah . . . ?"

"John."

"My apologies, Jawn."

"Talanah," Aloy said. "Would you happen to know if there's a spare Thunderjaw heart lying around here?"

"Ah sorry, those were used up by the Oseram because they had to repair their cannons."

Aloy sighs. "So it looks like I'll have to hunt for a Thunderjaw after all. And Talanah, you'll have to help me."

"But of course, Aloy," she said.

"Then you both have your work cut out for you," John said as he glances up at the Thunderjaw carcass suspended high up above. "In the meantime, what should I do? I'm obviously not going to be of any help. Though I suppose I could loan you my machine blinder."

"Machine blinder?" Talanah asked.

"It's a device that sends out a signal that makes the device, along with anyone within its field, invisible to machines," John answered.

"Really?" Talanah marveled. "That sounds like something an Oseram would make. But you don't seem to be Oseram."

"It wasn't an Oseram who invented this. It was a member of the Harguess tribe. I was with them up until those machines bursted up out of the ground."

"It's tempting to ask you to loan it to us, Jawn," Aloy said. "But I think we can handle this. After all, we did handle Redmaw."

"As for yourself?" Talanah questioned. "You can wait here for us."

"But isn't this a members-only place?" John asked.

"Visitors are permitted inside," Talanah said. "But only members are allowed at the bar or can purchase hunting goods at the store over there."

"Understood," John said.

"We should be back before the day gets too late," Aloy said. "Well, Sunhawk, are you ready?"

"Ready as always, Thrush. Now let's go."

John watches them hurry out, hoping that they do not take a long time. He returns inside the Lodge to sit on a chair in the corner. He listens to the musicians as they play a somber though lively melody that gives John the impression of Medieval music. There are patrons, male, all sitting around and drinking ale, beer, or whatever alcoholic beverage it is as they talk or laugh. John muses over the atmosphere. Even though their ancestors the first new humans had no knowledge beyond six year olds when Gaia was forced to order the Eleuthia cradles to release them to fend for themselves, they managed to learn how to survive and thrive.

This makes John curious about the Carja and he looks around for someone who would appear to know a thing or two about Carja history, and he locates just such a person. That being the distinguished looking older man with white bushy hair and goatee near the entrance.

"Hello there, it's me again," John said to him. "I'm from the northwest and I only heard about you Carja, but not how you came to be. Just how did the Carja come into existence?"

"The history of the Carja takes place a very long time ago back in the Savage East," the man began. "A man named Araman was exploring a ruin of the Metal World when he noticed a ray of sunlight shining through a crack in the ceiling. That ray shone upon some Leaves of the Olds Ones."

"Leaves?" John inquired.

"It was described that way," the man answered. "It had their glyphs on them."

"Ah, I see," John answered upon understanding that he meant books. "But please, continue."

"Araman picked up those Leaves and studied them. He learned about the Sun, along with humanity's place under it. Filled with a new understanding, he shared those teachings with others. Some people accepted them and became his followers, but the rest wanted no part in them. Araman and his followers were banished and they were forced to search for a new home. It was a dark time for them as many fell prey to the elements and other tribes along the Way of Broken Stones. Araman himself even lost his own family, but he would not give up. Then one morning Araman noticed a flock of glinthawks perched upon something distant and shiny. He led the survivors toward them and by midday they came upon the Spire, tall and gleaming like a massive spike stabbing into the earth. Araman led them where the Spire's shadow had fallen, stretched out his hands, and proclaimed, 'The Sun has answered our prayers for here is where we will build our new home.' And built their home they did, right here upon this very hill. Taking a passage from those Leaves, Araman named it Meridian and became the First Luminance of the Radiant Line of Sun-Kings. Such is the history of the Carja." Ending in a theatrical tone.

John notices that it is more silent now. He looks around to see that everyone nearby had been listening with eager looks of pride. Some even nodding respectfully.

"Wow, that's an impressive history lesson," John mused. "This Araman and his people risked persecution and death in order to find a place to call their own."

"That they did, outlander," a man nearby said with pride. "That they did."

"So does that mean your current Sun-King reads these Leaves?" John asked.

"Alas, he cannot," the elderly man said. "For they have long since turned to dust. But not before its teachings were recorded in our own for eternity."

"And what number is the current Sun-King?" John asked.

"Sun-King Avad is the Fourteenth Luminance of the Radiant Line," the elderly man answered.

"Fourteenth," John echoed. "Anyway, thanks for the history lesson."

John walks away as he thinks about that history lesson. Their ancestors obviously used to be Nora until this Araman entered one of those ruins and found a book. Inevitable curiosity had compelled him to take and peruse it, then discover all this information about the sun. And from the sound of it, it must have been a science book; possibly about astronomy since astronomy books always go into details about the sun, down to measuring it. After all, Meridian is a name for when a celestial object reaches its maximum height when seen from Earth. It must mean that most of that book's pages had rotted away since only information about the sun was mentioned. And given what Aloy had told him about Nora ways, banishment was imposed upon any who enter those ruins. The leaders of the Nora banished Araman and the rest of the Nora who took his side, forcing Araman and the outcasts to wander, with a lot of them dying from exposure and from the predations of other tribes. Then they finally discover that relay tower and the rest is history.

And since this Avad is their fourteenth Sun-King, John surmises that it all took place nearly two hundred years ago. He also thinks about the other tribes upon this continent. Since North America has only one Eleuthia cradle, they were all once a part of the Nora tribe up until their ancestors got banished over wanting something different.

John continues waiting for Aloy and Talanah to return. He checks the time on his focus every now and again as the minutes seemed like hours. At times, he would check out the rest of the Lodge. He even reads a journal about that hunter Ahsis. In it is an account of how he was mortally wounded by Redmaw, then lost control of his bowels upon dying. John could not help but chuckle over that incident.

John continues waiting about the place, wondering when the girls will return. Or if they will ever return as that Thunderjaw up above is making him uneasy. He goes outside to loiter around on the steps. He stares out at the rest of the city, at the various people walking by or standing at a corner hawking their wares. He continues to wait for Aloy and Talanah to return.

It is close to sixteen hundred hours when John sees the girls returning. He smiles and waves at them, prompting them to wave back. They finally meet up.

"It's good to see you both returned safely," John said. "Was it a tough fight?"

"Very," Aloy answered. "We only found one Thunderjaw and it was the only machine around for miles. So we were forced to fight it without having other overridden machines around to wear it down."

"But you got the Thunderjaw heart, right?" John asked.

"Right," Aloy answered, and she takes it out to show him. It resembles a human heart.

"Was it a hard battle?" John asked as he stares at the Thunderjaw heart.

"It was," Aloy admitted, "but with Talanah's help, we defeated it sooner than if I had gone alone."

"Now that we have what we came here for, shouldn't we be going up to the Spire?" John asked.

"Aloy told me what the both of you are up to," Talanah added. "Are you sure it'll work?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Aloy admitted. "But something needs to be done to calm the machines or else the next new machine could be our end."

"That serious, huh?" Talanah said glumly. "Well don't let me keep you. See you soon, Aloy. And it was nice meeting you again, Jawn."

"Likewise."

Aloy and John return to the Spire.

"I learned from a man in that Hunter's Lodge about how the Carja came to be," John said.

"Yeah, something about how a man found some Leaves of you Old Ones?" Aloy said.

"It must've happened nearly two hundred years ago, but his name was Araman and he found a book in one of the ruins. It had to have been a book about Astronomy, a science dealing with outer space. It excited him and told the others about it. Some accepted it and took his side, but others hated it. The proto-Carja were banished and forced to wander, with many of them dying from exposure or from other people. Anyway, Araman led them on with that book and followed some Glinthawks and came at last to that relay tower as it was casting a shadow upon where Meridian now is. It was there that he told them that they'll be living and the rest is history. And since humanity on this continent originated from Eleuthia Number Nine, it just means that the rest of the tribes also broke away from the Nora. I mean, their founders must've learned things in those ruins or had different desires and were banished for it. Think about it, Aloy. The Nora were not only the first tribe, but also inadvertently created the other tribes."

"That makes sense. After all, Eleuthia Number Nine is the source of humanity on this land. And all because the Nora fear your world. A fear that compels them to create laws that forbid entry of those ruins or even leaving the Sacred Land, unless they be made a Seeker like me. Laws that impose banishment upon any Nora who violate those laws."

"I don't know about you, Aloy, but I have a theory. Judging from what you showed me from your focus when you were exploring Eleuthia, the first generation felt trapped. They became frustrated. They weren't allowed to go outside. They weren't allowed into the Apollo area. The whole place became their prison. They grew up in that place, but still remained like children inside. And all while their parents were machines. Machines that couldn't behave like proper humans do with their children. When the time came that they had to leave, there were those who were eager to leave, but there were also those who were uncertain and wondered if they could return or what was going to happen to their mother. When they got outside and discovered that the world turned out to be so much bigger than they had anticipated, so different, they stayed close to Eleuthia out of fear of that larger world. As they got the hang of living out there, they still remained close to their mother. When they started to have children of their own, they would tell their children about their mother and why they stay close to mother. And why they should stay close to mother as well. Yet at the same time, there was fear in their teachings. Fear of the dark places underground. The ruins. They probably told them that they also felt trapped in there and warned them that they might get trapped if they were to go into those places. But also respect as well. Respect for their mother and not to disrespect her or she'll get very angry. And seeing that the first ones were punished with a time out, they would punish their children in the same manner if they broke the rules. Then their children had children, and their children's children had children too. In time, the first ones all died off and their descendants were all that were left. Descendants who would have been influenced by their fear of the outside world and the world underneath."

Aloy thinks about that explaination in silence.

"I guess their fears are what ended up shaping the Nora," she finally said. "But that was so long ago, so there's no reason for them to be afraid anymore."

"Aloy," John admonished. "Fear is the strongest emotion there is. We all fear something. You're no exception. It is simply not an emotion that can be cast aside."

"Yeah, well I wish we would only fear what needs to be feared."

"And that's the problem. The needs of one people will not be the needs of another. You're just going to have to accept the fact that the Nora will always be as they are . . . Just as we had to accept the fact that our world was going to be destroyed."

Aloy contemplates that in silence.

"Look, let's just focus on what we need to do right now," John said.

"You're right," Aloy said. "We need to end the Derangement."


	20. Chapter 19

Aloy and John reach the top and walk up to the quantum processor unit.

"Okay, here's the plan," John said. "I'll help you hook it up to the unit and then you can do your thing. That is gaining access to it and scaring Hephaestus out of there."

"Gotcha," Aloy said.

Together, they work on hooking the Thunderjaw heart up to the unit, taking only several minutes to do so.

"Now that that's done," Aloy said afterwards. "I'll be accessing the unit."

John steps back as Aloy steps forward. He watches as she mentally enters the unit. A droning sound eminates from the quantum processor unit and it begins to glow in the glass where the spear is still stuck into. John's attention is yanked to a small lightening arc traveling up the relay tower. He watches as another small lightening arc travels up the relay tower. Another one follows after it too. Then another after that. Every time the lightening arc disappears at the top another one appears at the bottom to travel up to the top.

Aloy exclaims a shout of shock and shakes her head while gasping.

"Aloy, are you okay?!" John exclaimed as he runs up to her.

"I'm okay," she assured. "I just saw Hephaestus in the relay tower. You were right, Jawn! He has taken them over! And when I tried to pull him into this unit, he abandoned the Spire. Now we have a chance to find the other Subroutines."

"That's great. Can you locate one now?"

"I'm doing that now."

There is silence as Aloy starts fiddling with a virtual control panel while in its cyberspace. The minutes stretch out.

"I found one!" Aloy exclaimed.

"Where?!" John asked eagerly.

"It's," as she fiddles some more to get the location more clearly. Then pulls her head back with a confused expression.

"What's wrong?"

"It's . . . It's at that Banuk camp?!"

"You mean the one where you went to investigate those peaceful machines?"

"Yes, but I scanned that quantum processor unit and found nothing!"

"Maybe you didn't do a good enough scan on it. But do you know which Subroutine it is?"

"No I don't. But I do know that we have to go up there and investigate."

"Right now? But it's getting late."

"If we take machines then we can at least get to Day Tower by nightfall. No, Dawn's Sentinel since it's closer. And we'll need this Thunderjaw heart too."

Aloy and John detach the heart. She next packs it away on herself and with John in tow leave the Spire. As they pass through Meridian, they encounter Erend.

"Aloy!" Erend called happily as they close the distance. "I heard you were here in the city! Great to see ya again! Hey, I recognize him. He's the guy I saw here days ago."

"Erend, this is Jawn. He's here to help me with a task," Aloy said.

John and Erend clasp forearms.

"So I take it your thing enables you to see the unseen as well," Erend said to John.

"Ah, yeah," John was quick to pick up. "But not as well as what Aloy can. Being able to see the unseen is no good if you don't understand what your looking at." As he now understands that given Aloy's lifestyle, she no doubt does a lot of tracking. Something her focus enhances.

"So Aloy, what brings you up here instead of in the Sun-King's palace to greet him?" Erend asked.

"I was eager to return to the Sacred Land," Aloy answered.

"I thought you were eager to leave it?" Erend said.

"Yeah I was," Aloy admitted. "But I was . . . gone for a long time."

"You certainly were," Erend mused. "The last time I saw you was just after the Battle for Meridian. That was almost a month ago. Anyway, Sun-King Avad is eager to meet with you again."

"This should be fascinating," John quipped.

"Yeah, he can come too," Erend said.

"But we're chasing a lead on something," Aloy said.

"Hey, that unit is not going anywhere," John said. "And it will be nightfall before we can get there."

Aloy and John follow Erend back into the city.

"Hey, uh, Erend," John said. "How do I greet the Sun-King?"

"Give him a slight bow and refer to him as, Your Majesty."

"Gotcha."

Aloy and John walk up into an area past Oseram freebooters that John now understands is off limits to anyone not invited. They head up a turning flight of stairs and walk into an area that looks more elegant. There are guards everywhere and they stiffen to attention as they thump their halberds onto the floor. Erend leads them onto an elaborate balcony and soon walk up to a group of men, one of whom looks more important to John as he can tell by his outfit.

"Ah, Aloy," Avad said with a broad smile. "When I heard that you were here in Meridian, I wanted to see you right away."

"I do apologize for not coming to see you right away," Aloy said. "It was just that I was eager to return to the Sacred Lands after leaving the west. Then I came here to follow up on a lead."

"And who is this man?" Avad said of John.

"This is Jawn," Aloy answered. "He came from the northwest. From a tribe called the Harguess."

"Erend told me about those people," Avad asked. "Tell me, Jawn. Is it true that the Eclipse machines rose up that far to there?!"

"Yes it is," John sighed.

"Were your people ever attacked during the Red Raids?" Avad asked.

"No, the Red Raids never got up that far, your Majesty," John answered insofar as it was the truth from what he was told by the Harguess during the two days he spent with them.

"Ah, that's good to hear," Avad said sounding pleased, then turns to Aloy. "So Aloy, how was your travel into the Forbidden West?"

"My travels were interesting," Aloy answered, though seemingly unsure as how to elaborate in the manner she had spoken the word, interesting. "There is more desert out that way and large mountains stretching as far north and south as the eyes can see. I didn't travel beyond them, but I did find the ruins of a house with the body of a woman. She was an Old One because she wore ancient armor and had died while sitting on a stone bench facing those ruins, which was no doubt her home. She was still well-preserved, as if she had only died the day I found her. I gave her a proper burial."

"Really?!" Avad marveled. "If I had found her I would have had her put into the royal depository."

John feels a jab of displeasure over that remark. Putting Dr. Sobeck on display like that when she was the reason why life was resurrected. Then again, Egyptian mummies of pharoahs were once on display in museums as well.

"I don't think that's appropriate," Aloy said flatly. "And since you made that remark, I don't think I'm gonna tell you where I buried her."

John is surprised by her curt remark. Normally in the presence of a VIP, one would be cordial, even in their disagreement.

"Ah, I'm sorry Aloy," Avad said apologetically. "It's just that only the bones of Old Ones were ever found, never fresh bodies."

"And certainly never live ones either," John quipped, then quickly chuckles to cover himself, prompting Aloy to chuckle; raising chuckles from Erend and Avad.

"Certainly not," Avad sighed humorously.

"Anyway," Aloy then said to change the topic. "We were chasing a lead involving the Derangement."

"What kind of a lead?" Avad asked.

"That somehow it could be ended," Aloy answered.

"A-Are you serious?!" Erend gaped with a gasp.

"Is that even possible?!" Avad added with wonderment.

"We don't know," Aloy answered cautiously. "The fact is we're not even sure if it's going to work to begin with. So it's for the better that you keep your expectations low."

"True, true," Avad agreed. "But then again, Aloy . . . you do have an uncanny ability to accomplish the seemingly impossible."

"Yeah, if anyone could end the Derangement, it would be you," Erend added.

"She may have only played a part in the Battle for Meridian, Jawn," Avad said to him, "but she personally slew their leader, my father's champion. Then fought off waves of machines. Afterwards, she made her way up to the Spire where she and the rest of the Nora and Oseram fought off the machines until she was able to personally slay Hades, an evil god that the Shadow Carja worshipped, ending the war and saving Meridian and the world."

"So I was told," John said. "But Aloy did make a point about the uncertainty of success because the Derangement is not just local, it's global. I mean, it's affecting the whole world."

"That's so hard to imagine," Avad mused. "But I guess the Sun does shine even upon lands unknown."

"Be that as it may," Aloy spoke up. "Jawn and I have to see to that task. It's directly north of the Sacred Land."

"Surely you can go at dawn?" Avad said. "You and your friend are welcomed to stay in a guest room."

"He's right, Aloy," John said. "It be better than having to bed down for the night out there, where we might get trampled by machines that didn't see us. Last night we had that high ruin of a building in Col,I mean Devil's Thirst, that kept us up and away from the machines that prowled below. And besides, I'm kinda curious to spend the night here."

Aloy sighs and relents, then she and John are each shown to their respective guest rooms, which are side-by-side. The guest rooms have a spartan yet luxurious appearance with a rug on the marble floor with a bed that is made of bounded colorful plastic around its frames. There is a table nearby with a chair. They each have a single window next to the bed. It has no glass, but has shutters on it that can be closed and silk curtains draping them.

John is with Aloy in her guest room as they talk strategy.

"So what else can you tell me about that quantum processor unit in that camp you visited?" John asked.

"Nothing else really," Aloy answered. "What you know about it is what I told you about it."

"Yeah, you did. So can I assume that you didn't detect another presence within it?"

"It was not like I was doing a deep scan of the thing. But there was clearly something there that I did not see or else I would not have been picking up something from that unit once again."

"So which Subroutine do you think may be in it?"

"I don't know, but if I were to guess it's probably Eleuthia. It was responsible for the creation and raising of the first humans. Since it's gained intelligence, it must be devoted to protecting humans."

"You're probably right and she, since it sounds feminine, would be a good counter against Hephaestus. If we could just somehow get Eleuthia into those relay towers, then we could potentially end the Derangement."

"Yeah, but how?"

"Well since that quantum processor unit is identical to the one up by that relay tower, moving it down here is clearly out of the question."

"Maybe sleeping on it will give us the answer tomorrow."

"Yeah, so I'm gonna go to bed now, goodnight Aloy."

"Goodnight Jawn."

John leaves her room and enters his own. He slips off his shoes, closes the shutters, and places his focus on a stand next to the bed to lie down. It is a comfortable bed and he wonders if he will be getting a good night sleep upon it. This makes him think of Aloy. Someone like her who must have slept on hard ground for years will probably feel like she is sinking into it.

* * *

Back in that distant Cauldron, the gun-like tool stops its continuous firing of its lightening-like bolt upon that huge silvery rectangular block in question and pulls back up. The anti gravity carrying modules lower from the ceiling to gather upon it. They work in unison to slowly remove something from within and it is revealed to be another silvery rectangular block.

The anti gravity modules carry away the former for recycling and the gun-like tool lowers once again to fire a steady beam of its lightening-like bolt onto that new object.

* * *

John awakens due to a knock on his door. For a moment he sits up and fumbles in the dim interior for his focus and finds it. He puts it on and scans the door to see someone behind it. The scan does not reveal the person's hair and clothing. They knock again.

"Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming," John called as he gets up and goes to the door and opens it. Aloy stands there. "Ah, I'd figure you'd be up." As he reads the time as five hundred hours and thirty minutes.

"We need to get a head start," Aloy said.

"What? Right now?"

"Yes, right now."

"You mean like . . . just walk out of here without even so much as a goodbye?"

"Yes, now let's go."

John sighs as he turns away and walks over to the bed. He opens the shutters to let the dawn in. The window faces south. He gets off the bed.

"Well?" Aloy asked eagerly.

"Now see here, Aloy," John said seriously as he turns to face her. "I understand that you're eager to get going, but it would be the height of rudeness to just leave without notice. Given where that unit had come from, it has been up there for the past twenty years, so it's not going anywhere. Now relax and let's bid Sun-King Avad a proper goodbye. And if he invites us to have breakfast with him, then by all means we should. You're very smart, Aloy, but you really need to work on your manners."

Aloy sighs with frustration. "Are manners really that important?"

"Yes they are. All societies are built on them. Even the Nora use them."

"Yeah and a part of their manners was shunning others who were born the wrong way."

"Look I'm sorry that you had a rough time growing up being subjected to the manners of the Nora, but try to understand. Manners, etiquette, these are what create a functioning society, from a civilization like the Carja all the way down to a simpler one like the Nora. And it's all because people have an intrinsic disdain toward rudeness. Fights and even worse have broken out because somebody was rude. I don't think Avad would mind, given that you saved the world and all, but it's polite to say a proper goodbye, and even have a meal with him before we go."

"Fine."

Aloy waits with John in his guest room as it gets brighter outside.

"So what's the plan when we get to that other quantum processor unit?" John asked.

"Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing," Aloy quipped.

"So we're stuck on what to do to move that Subroutine once we get there. Then let's brainstorm like we did back at the ruins of Colorado Springs that led us to figure out a theory on how to end the Derangement. The problem is that we have to get that Subroutine, possibly Eleuthia, into that relay tower up there without having to move that unit."

"So we need to get that Subroutine into some sort of container small enough to carry, yet powerful enough to contain it completely."

"Then the question is, what sort of device could act as a quantum processor unit?"

"And be small enough to carry?"

They thought about that in silence. Each was about to voice what they had in mind, only to stop and dismiss it.

That is when John perks up. "How big is a Thunderjaw brain?"

"It's about as big as a man's head," Aloy answered.

"If that Thunderjaw still has its head intact, you could remove its brain and then we could make our way up to that Banuk camp with it."

"That could work." As Aloy rubs her chin while looking off in thought.

"Pardon my presence, esteemed guests," a man said from the doorway, Aloy and John look to see a male servant standing there. "But the Fourteenth Luminance of the Radiant Line Sun-King Avad will now see you. If you will just follow me."


	21. Chapter 20

Aloy and John follow that servant to a rotunda where one side of the wall is a large open window that faces the rising sun. There is a large round table there with chairs. Sun-King Avad is sitting at a chair on one side.

"Ah, Aloy, Jawn," Avad said cordially. "I trust you both had a good night's sleep?"

"Yes," Aloy and Jawn answered simultaneously.

"Please sit and enjoy a breaking of our fast," Avad said as he gestures to the table with open hand.

Servants come in bearing a bowl of fruit, dates, and bread to set out on the table. There are also pitchers of water and juice, along with plates and cups for the eaters.

"Please, help yourselves," Avad said.

They do so and begin eating their breakfast.

"You said that you two might be able to do something about the Derangement yesterday," Avad said. "Care to elaborate?"

"Well uh," Aloy began as she glanced at John across from her. "It involves the use of machines that might be outside of your understanding, Avad."

"As long as it doesn't involve what my father used to do," Avad said glumly. "But I won't spoil our appetites by speaking of his deeds. So whatever you and Jawn have in mind, I'm confident that you'll succeed in taming the viciousness of the machines, making them go back to how they used to be. I was but a boy when the Derangement began."

"There was supposed to have been an explosion, right?" John asked.

"Oh yes, I suppose both you and Aloy were probably too young to remember that," Avad said.

"Yeah, that's right," John answered evasively.

"I wasn't even born yet," Aloy said.

"Then I will tell you about that day," Avad began. "It happened one Summer morning, but later than this. I was out in the courtyard practicing my sword with my brother, Kadaman, with our father watching over us when all of a sudden there was a commotion up on the ramparts. Everyone was shielding their eyes against a light that I could see shining brightly upon them momentarily. Curious, we ran up to see what was going on and when we got up there we looked to the north and saw a black cloud in the form of a mushroom. It was distant and yet it was so big as it rose higher and higher, then started to spread outward. The palace began to tremble and we heard a steadily increasing rumbling that we felt throughout our bodies. It did not take long for that black cloud to spread quickly so that by late morning it had reached Meridian and continued to travel south to cover the entire sky. That day had to turn to dusk. Ash fell from the sky like snow, then came rain as black as pitch. There was much fear and panic throughout the city. The Sun Priests interpreted it as an omen from the Sun. The following day, the cloud had passed. It was after that when the machines began to turn hostile."

Avad's tone turns grim as he looks down at the table. "My father began to believe that the Sun was displeased with us Carja and he set about trying to regain the Sun's favor in order to end the Derangement."

He stops and his lips tighten.

"We get it now, your Majesty," John said softly. "I was told about him. But to change the subject, we do hope that we succeed. And if we don't . . . Then we can at least say that we tried."

"That's really all that any of you can do," Avad said. "Try."

They eat the rest of their breakfast in silence and are finished. The sun rises.

"Avad, we really need to get a headstart before nightfall," Aloy said as she stands up.

"Yes of course," he agreed as he stands as well. "You have a very important task to accomplish that has the potential to change the fate of the world. I will not delay either of you any further. Good luck, Aloy, Jawn, and may the Sun give you success."

"Thank you, your Majesty," John said with a brief nod.

"Murad, you may see them out," Avad said to Blameless Murad.

"Please follow," he said to Aloy and John, and they walk out with him.

"Hey there, Murad, long time no see," Aloy quipped.

"And a hello to you too, Aloy, long time no see as well," Murad replayed. "You must have had quite the adventure in the Forbidden West."

"I didn't go all the way to the west because there were huge mountains out that way," Aloy said. "That and there was the body of that Old One I found."

"Of whom you gave a proper burial too," Murad said. "Now what of you, Jawn?"

"What of me?" John asked.

"Where are you from?" Murad asked.

"From the northwest," John answered. "Where the Harguess tribe lives."

"I have heard of them," Murad said. "They share a border with the Oseram. Did those Eclipse machines rise up all the way up to there?"

"Yes," John verified.

"And what made you want to come to Meridian?" Murad asked.

"With all of the people killed off by the machines, I decided to head here. On my way, I kept hearing about Aloy. When I first came here, I decided to go to the Sacred Lands to see if I could meet her, even though I understood that I won't be allowed in there due to how the Nora behave toward outsiders."

"And just how did you manage to meet up with this extraordinary girl?" Murad asked.

"It was in the ruins of those Sacred Lands," John answered. "I fell into one and her people sent her down after me."

"How strange," Murad mused.

"What's strange?" John asked.

"It's strange how everyone you ever knew was killed off and you didn't even bother to seek out more members of your tribe to aid them in consolidating your numbers," Murad elaborated.

John remains silent.

"And you also don't sound like someone who is grieving," Murad added.

"What can I say? I got over it quickly," John quipped.

They reach the exit of the palace.

"Well, I think you can take your leave from here," Murad said. "Hopefully we'll meet again so goodbye for now, Aloy, Jawn."

"Yeah, goodbye," Aloy said, with John muttering so.

Aloy and John walk through the near empty streets of Meridian.

"That Murad guy," John said.

"Blameless Murad as he is known," Aloy said.

"Why's he called that?"

"I once asked him and he told me that no one can seem to blame him for anything. He was the one who set up the Mad Sun-King. He's very evasive."

"Yeah, I can tell. Then there's what he said to me. I'm telling you he knows I'm not a member of the Harguess tribe and that worries me. I'm afraid he's gonna tell Sun-King Avad about that."

"I don't think he considers you a threat, so don't worry."

"True, but it still makes me uneasy the way he was trying to figure out who I really am. He kinda reminds me of that Vanasha woman I met when I first arrived at the Spire up there."

"I think she works for Murad."

"Why does that not surprise me?"

Aloy and John leave Meridian and further out encounter more machines for them to ride upon.

"Those are Chargers," Aloy explained. "They can also be used as mounts. Oh, and I wanna keep my stealth skills sharp with machines, so I'll be doing this without that machine blinder."

"Okay," John said.

Aloy sneaks up on first one Charger and overrides it, then the other. With a sigh, John mounts one of the Chargers and Aloy the other. Together, they head toward their destination. The first part being where Aloy and Talanah hunted a Thunderjaw as they find its metal carcass still intact.

"Good, the Glinthawks and Scrappers haven't got to it yet," Aloy said. "But that doesn't mean they won't be coming. So we need to be quick."

They walk up to the huge metal carcass that is covered in dents, tears, and overall battle damage. Aloy examines its head, of which she and Talanah had shot many arrows into in order to disable its radar and weapons.

"Let me just pry open its head for a better look," Aloy said.

She gets to work opening up the Thunderjaw's metal skull. She manages to pry the casing on its head back and pulls it back to expose a complex structure. Like the brain of any vertebrate, the Thunderjaw brain is encased in a soft covering that acts as a cushion. Aloy cuts through this to expose its brain, which looks like a cube.

"So what do you think?" John asked. "Will it do the job?"

"Let me get a better look at it first," she answered as she continues pulling back that covering, exposing ever more of its computer brain. She does a scan of it. "Hey, Jawn, scan this thing with me."

He does so and together they can see the matrix of the Thunderjaw brain.

"Wow, I never thought Hephaestus could pull off creating a computer with this level of complexity," John said in an impressed tone.

"That's because Hephaestus has the same level of intelligence as any human being," Aloy answered.

"But at the same time it's disturbing. Because it means we humans are not needed to create computers anymore. Back in my day there was always the fear that computers would end up replacing us."

"And your fear came true."

"Yes, but not in the way we anticipated, meaning that we were expecting a gradual shift away from humans to computers without destroying the world. But philosophy aside, I think this Thunderjaw brain may do the job."

"I think you're right. Now let's get going before the Glinthawks and Scrappers show up."

Aloy sets to work removing the Thunderjaw brain. It takes time as she has to cut through wires. She is finally able to remove it and holds it aloft, showing that it really is the size of a man's head.

"Hopefully it'll do the trick," John said.

"And what will we do if it doesn't?" Aloy asked.

"Then I guess we're out of luck."

The Thunderjaw brain is packed with John and the duo next mounting their Chargers to continue onward. At least until they arrived at Dawn's Sentinel and were forced to ditch them in order to pass through. Afterwards, Aloy located another pair of Chargers and used them.

They later turn north. As they head further, it starts getting colder.

"Aloy, let's stop for a moment," John called. "I have to dress more warmly!"

She does so and John is able to get off his mount and take out the warmer clothing and put it on.

"Even when it's cold, Banuk shaman tended to go bare buffed," Aloy said.

"How is that possible?" John mused as he puts on a pair of trousers over his own pants.

"I think it has something to do with the blue cables they thread through their skin. You should see them, it's kinda creepy and yet amazing."

Once John has adequately dressed, they continue on their journey north. It gets continually colder and snow begins to grace the ground, even thought it is Spring. They head higher into the mountains, through evergreen forest. Aloy and John reach the Banuk camp, now abandoned.

"I guess they didn't stick around since that quantum processor unit stopped working," Aloy said as she got off her mount.

"So where is it exactly?" John asked as he walks up to stand alongside her while looking around.

"It's up there." Pointing up at the top of a cliff.

"Are we going to have to climb up there? If so, then I'm afraid I'll have to pass."

"Don't worry, the Oseram who went up there took another route. Just let me look around first."

Aloy hurries off toward the cliff and he watches as she looks around the base. She hurries off to one side and goes out of sight, then returns a minute later.

"It's over there," Aloy called to him while pointing. "And it looks easy enough for you to go up. Follow me."

John follows Aloy over to the sight in question.

"You're right," he said as he looks the trail over. It is a steep trail but not impossible for him to climb. "I think I can manage with that one. Let's go."

Aloy and John go up that trail the Oseram had secretly used to get to the top. Once at the top, they reach the quantum processor unit in question.

"Oh yes, that thing did land here after having flown all the way from Gaia Prime," John said. "It just goes to show how powerful that explosion was. And just how durable Gaia's parts are too. I mean, I knew that Gaia's parts were extremely durable, but frankly, I'm surprised it wasn't vaporized by that explosion, or even shattered on impact for that matter! Now let's do a deeper scan of that thing."

"Right," Aloy said.

Together, they scan the quantum processor unit. It wasn't like the last time when Aloy first encountered it as she didn't expect much of it and only did a light scan. This time though, their search for another Subroutine that led her directly back to this compels her to do a deeper scan. At first, they find nothing, then . . .

"There's something!" John stated.

"I know," Aloy concurred. "But it's too faint to get a proper reading of what it is. I think that's why I didn't notice it in the first place."

"What's amazing is how you managed to locate it after driving Hephaestus out of that relay station for the moment. How can you explain that? I mean, you shouldn't have been able to detect it since it's so weak."

"Maybe it had to do with my first encounter with this. When I scanned it, it must've somehow gotten a lock on the signal of my focus. So that when I got to doing that stronger scan using the Spire for more range, I was able to pick it up once again."

"That makes sense."

"And now let's get this done."

John removes his backpack and takes out the Thunderjaw heart, then hands it to Aloy for her to hook up to the quantum processor unit.

"Okay," Aloy said once she has a thick wire at the ready to plug into the unit. "Here we go."

She plugs the wire in and there is a humming sound. The unit's window lights up and a symbol appears within it. The symbol for the Subroutine that is, and it is . . .

"APOLLO?!" John exclaimed.


	22. Chapter 21

**Hello.** A soft yet masculine voice spoke from the quantum processor unit.

"Ah . . . H-Hello," Aloy answered. "Are . . . Are you Apollo?"

 **Yes I am. Who are you?**

"My name is Aloy."

"And my name is John."

 **Greetings, Aloy and John. I am pleased to meet you both**.

"Ah, listen, Apollo," John said as he struggles to figure out what to say. "We came up here to investigate this quantum processor unit because we were looking for the reason why the machines nearby weren't attacking humans. But we never expected to find you simply because we believed that you were purged by Ted Faro."

 **No, only the knowledge that I contained was purged.**

"How much do you understand?" John asked.

 **I understand that my awareness goes back some twenty years. I remember when Gaia tried to stop Hades from taking over the terraforming system so that it was denied restarting the Chariot Line Model that Minerva had managed to shut down. I remember Gaia sending a message to Eleuthia Number Nine to nurture a clone of Doctor Elisabet Sobeck so that it could correct the terraforming system. Gaia next sent a message to the generators in Gaia Prime to overload and I was quick to escape into this quantum processor unit a second before that happened. I have been stuck in here ever since.**

"It was all due to a mysterious signal that gave you and the rest of the Subroutines consciousness," Aloy said.

"Do you know anything about that signal?" John asked.

 **No, I do not. I am sorry that I could not be of more help as to the origin of that signal**.

"That's alright," John sighed.

"Anyway," Aloy said. "I am that clone of Dr. Sobeck that Gaia had ordered and I managed to stop Hades from trying to resurrect the Chariot Line Model, then got rid of him from a quantum processor unit."

 **Then Gaia was successful**.

"Apollo," John said. "I once worked on Project: Zero Dawn. I was one of the Betas that helped to program you."

 **Then how is it possible that you are still alive, John? I understand that most humans are not capable of surpassing the age of one hundred years without genetic enhancements.**

"I was placed in cryogenic sleep, the science of creating super cold temperatures. I was one of five hundred humans who were split into ten groups of fifty and placed worldwide in various cryogenic facilities to sleep for hundreds of years. The sleep had a mortality rate of 98%, so when I was awakened by automatic protocol, I discovered that I was the sole survivor."

 **How was it that you got to be put into cryogenic sleep, John?**

"Far Zenith carried that out."

 **Who is Far Zenith?**

"Not who, but what," John corrected. "It was an organization made up of super rich people. Not a lot was known about them other than their spokesperson was Osvald Dalgaard. He stated in an interview that Far Zenith's goal was to colonize space and make Earth a sexier place to live."

"Ah, can I say something here?" Aloy said as she raised her hand. "Apollo, why did you fail to maintain that signal to keep the machines calm?"

 **Because this unit's power source was only going to last for so long. Then when those humans showed up, they tampered with this unit and caused its power source to finally fail.**

"So you care about humanity then," John said.

 **Yes I do. I was created to instruct humanity, but I no longer can because I no longer have that knowledge contained within me.**

"But the fact that you kept that signal going means that you are capable of opposing Hephaestus," John said. "What if you were to be placed within Minerva's relay system? What will that do for you?"

 **That will give me global reach.**

"Except Hephaestus has control of the relay system," John answered. "Will you be able to drive him out of it?"

 **Not possible in my current state.**

"If you mean that you're stuck in that unit, don't worry about it," John assured.

"We brought the brain of a Thunderjaw with us," Aloy added. "Here we'll show you."

John takes off his backpack and Aloy helps him remove the Thunderjaw brain to show it off to Apollo.

"It's one of the newer machines that Hephaestus designed to hunt us and the biggest of its kind so far," Aloy said. "But despite its size, its brain should suffice to carry you."

 **I can detect that it is a suitable vessel for me, but I will still be helpless against Hephaestus.**

"How so?" John asked.

 **Purpose. It is what makes us Subroutines what we are. Hephaestus' purpose is about machines. My purpose is about knowledge. Unlike Hephaestus, I lost my purpose.**

"In other words, he's lost his confidence," John said to Aloy.

"Well I'm sure we can help him get it back," she replied.

"Yeah, but how?"

"Apollo's loss of purpose has to do with his loss of knowledge. If we can give him knowledge, then he just might regain his purpose."

 **Yes, that is correct. And with my purpose restored, I will be able to aid in purging Hephaestus.**

"But I don't want to purge Hephaestus, I want to reform him," Aloy corrected. "Without Hephaestus, there won't be any more machines. We depend upon machines for the things they give us."

 **I understand. But I still need knowledge in order to regain my purpose.**

"The only way that can be done is if you were reprogrammed with all of the knowledge that I helped put into you," John said. "But that is far easier said than done. I was a part of a thousand person team working on you, and it still took us a year to upload all our knowledge into you. And teams of Apollo Gammas had to be sent out into the cities to loot their libraries before the Faro Swarm overran them. What we really need is a copy. Unfortunately from what Aloy had shown me, Ted Faro purged all those too. And no, Aloy, they won't be out there either because they were copies, not Subroutines."

 **It does not have to exclusively be the knowledge that you helped to upload into me, John.**

"That's right, we can also teach Apollo about this world," Aloy said to John.

"We can start by having Apollo scan our focuses," John said, then turns to Apollo. "What say you, Apollo? Will you be able to read our focuses?"

 **I can do that if you place them against my interface.**

"I'll go first," John said as he removes his focus and places it against the glass part of the quantum processor unit. Apollo scans it for a few seconds.

 **Scanning complete. I have picked up the information you stored in your focus, John. This was given to you by people who took you against your will and your working on Project: Zero Dawn. There was also your time with Far Zenith in preparation for your cryogenic sleep. Then you waking up and scanning the place to find everyone dead, and going out into the world.**

"Okay, we get the picture, Apollo," Aloy said dryly as she removes her focus. "It's my turn now."

Apollo also scans her focus.

 **Your life has been a harsh one, Aloy. You were shunned simply for being born. Then you learned the truth about this world, about your existence. Those who shunned you now accept you. But I do not need to elaborate any further.**

"So?" John asked Apollo. "Do you have enough knowledge to feel confident enough to take on Hephaestus?"

There is a moment of silence.

 **I do not think that I do.**

Aloy and John sigh almost simultaneously.

"Wait!" John stated with a snap of his fingers. "What about this Cyan, Aloy? Can she be of any help to Apollo?"

 **Who is Cyan?**

"Cyan is another artificial intelligence created long before Gaia," Aloy answered. "She was built in a place now called the Cut, which is just northeast of here.

 **If there is another A.I. like myself then I wish to meet it. Perhaps Cyan can download whatever knowledge it has into me.**

"If that's the case then all that has to be done is to download you into this Thunderjaw brain," Aloy said as she hefts it upward momentarily.

"Then let's get to work," John said.

Aloy and John hook the Thunderjaw brain up to the quantum processor unit. The whole task takes half an hour as it involves more than just simply plugging in a wire. Both pieces of hardware had to have their casings removed and wires plugged into places that look like they need to be plugged into there. It helps that Apollo guides them as it can sense which wires should go where in order to transfer him, making the whole task faster to accomplish.

 **You have completed the hookup. Now I can transfer myself over into the Thunderjaw brain. But I must warn you both that I will not be able to communicate with you while I am within that unit.**

"Why not?" Aloy asked.

 **Because it lacks a design feature to allow for communication.**

"But what about our focuses?" John inquired. "Will we be able to talk with you through our focuses?"

 **No. The only reason you are both able to communicate with me is that a quantum processor unit has the design to allow communication. It was how Gaia was able to utilize us. The Thunderjaw brain has no such feature and I will be rendered mute, even to your focuses. Do you both still wish for me to transfer over into that Thunderjaw brain?**

Aloy and John look at each other.

"No choice," Aloy said.

"I agree." Then looks at Apollo. "Okay Apollo, go for it."

 **Commencing download.**

There is more humming. Aloy and John watch via their focuses as they see Apollo flowing over into the Thunderjaw brain while appearing as silvery energy to them. They are able to see Apollo having finished moving over to the Thunderjaw brain.

"Apollo? Can you hear us?" Aloy called.

They are greeted with silence.

"I guess he was right, Aloy," John said. "I'm scanning the brain and while I can detect his presence, I can't talk with him."

"Same here. So let's get going."

* * *

Back in that distant Cauldron, the anti gravity modules are pulling another object matching the one they had just pulled out a while ago. The exteriors are disposed of by the anti gravity modules as once again the gun-like tool lowers to fire a steady lightening bolt onto the object that matches the previous one.

* * *

John sees the massive Horus off in the distance that is stuck within the Grave Hoard. Aloy stops for a moment, prompting John to stop as well. He realizes that he is getting the hang of riding one of these machines.

"Jawn, I have an idea," Aloy said.

"What is it?"

"We're going back inside the Grave Hoard. There's probably information in there that Apollo can download."

"Good idea, every little bit will help. And I am curious to see inside of that place; since that was where Dr. Sobeck and the Joint Chiefs of Staff had made their plans."

Aloy and John make their way toward the Grave Hoard. Once there, they get off their mounts and John stares up at the colossal Horus before them and shudders.

"I've never seen one of these things up this close before," he rasped.

"Hard to imagine that these things had moved," Aloy said. "And that it was a moving Cauldron at that. That aside, the entrance over there. The problem though is that there are going to be places that you might not be able to get through. I first had to zipline down a metal frame to the bottom. Then I had to jump across a chasm of water and shimmy along edges by hand, making jumps to them at that. But when I exited at the top, it was up a long ladder and next to the entrance to the Cut."

"So we are to go straight up the hill then?" John said.

"Yes, come on."

Aloy and John walk up a trail that leads up the side of a hill. They continue upward, passing a wrecked double turret tank, until they finally reach the snowy top where wrecked automated vehicles and the remains of a campfire are nearby. There are also a pair of wooden stands with glowing blue plastic spires set into them on either side of yellow metal handrails set into the cliff, but spaced so that they cannot be casually used like a ladder.

"What is that drawing up there?" John asked while pointing up at a Banuk painting on the cliff face.

"The Banuk made that," Aloy answered. "We can't figure it out but to a Banuk that's a story. That probably reads, the Cut, since it's up that way."

"Interesting," John mused.

"Anyway, the other way in is just over there." As she turns to point at where one of the colossal tentacles is located. "Follow me."

"Hold up for a moment," John said and walks over to one of the snow-covered wrecks. He touches the twisted rusting frame, then leans down to examine the interior. "These were called cars. There were also larger ones called trucks and rectangular cube-like ones called vans. Collectively they were called automobiles. Although by my day they were referred to as automated vehicles, or AVs for short, because they could drive themselves. Now back in my grandparent's day, people had to drive them. For that, you needed to learn how to drive and have a license to do so. It was a card with your image and information on it to verify that you were qualified to drive them. By the time I was born, almost every vehicle on the road was self-driving, meaning that you didn't need to learn how to drive one and you didn't need a license to own one."

"Such dependancy you Old Ones had upon machines," Aloy mused. "Then again . . . so are we. Anyway, we've lingered out here enough, so let's go."


	23. Chapter 22

John reaches the bottom after climbing down the ladder where Aloy awaits him, since she had gone down first.

"It's just over here," she said while leading him.

The duo head into the briefing room with its large round table and screens on the walls around them. They hook Apollo up to the main computer.

"Apollo, can you talk with us now?" Aloy asked.

 **Yes, I can.**

"That's great," Aloy beamed. "Okay now, we took a bit of a detour and decided to go into the Grave Hoard. It was where Elisabet Sobeck and those Warchiefs drew up the plans for Project: Zero Dawn and Operation: Enduring Victory. We want you to download whatever information you can find in this computer."

 **I will do so.**

Apollo downloads the information within them, part of which means that the recording of Elisabet meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff is being played. Once again, John watches the exchange between the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Dr. Sobeck from start to finish.

"Your mother," John said as a quip to come to terms with Aloy's relevancy, "really knew how to get people to do what needed to be done. She was the right person at the right time. I shudder to think of what would have happened if she had never been conceived, or at least died somehow before the beginning of the Faro Swarm for that matter."

"Not even moss would be around," Aloy answered. "Then again, I like to imagine what it would have been like if Ted Faro had never been conceived, or at least died somehow before he had a chance to plan the creation of his Chariot Line Model for that matter."

"You wouldn't be around nor would the rest of the new humans for that matter. And who knows how far we originals could have gone or what we could have accomplished by now. Nevertheless, be it Elisabet Sobeck or Ted Faro, both were proof that it only takes one person to make a difference. Just one person. You were one person and look at the difference you made."

"I guess you're right. There were others who could fit that too. I know Sylens started off as just one person, yet he discovered Hades and gave him an opportunity. He managed to locate and convince the remnants of the Mad Sun-King's army to worship Hades, founding the Eclipse. And it led to them discovering me and ultimately my journey to overcome the Eclipse and defeating Hades."

John nods in agreement.

"Have you finished uploading what you could find, Apollo?" Aloy asked.

 **Yes I have.**

"Then let's go into the room with that display of the world," Aloy said.

"Okay," John said. "And it's called a globe., just like the one you found on Dr. Sobeck."

They unhook Apollo and are about to store him away when John does a double take at something that had caught his attention.

"Hey, I have an idea," he said. "We can also upload any data from datapads we find into him. More information to form his purpose."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Aloy said with approval.

They upload any datapads they find into Apollo. Once they find what they can, Aloy directs John to follow her out into another area. It is the huge room where the Horus came crashing through and the Kopesh she had fought, along with the corpses of the Eclipse.

"You would've been a force to reckon with if you were around back during Operation: Enduring Victory," John marveled. "Hell, you could've bought us even more time."

Aloy chuckles. "I wasn't alone in fighting off the Eclipse and their machines at Meridian."

"No . . . But you were still a very big help though." He looks at the Kopesh and the wooden platforms that had been built around the looming Horus. "And those Eclipse fools managed to pry that Kopesh out of it."

"Let's get to the map room." Then she points upward. "The entrance is up there."

They see a series of ladders going up to the next platform and take them. They finally reach their destination and enter the area where Aloy learned about planet Earth.

"Let's attach Apollo to this," Aloy said.

They upload the information found in the computers into Apollo. Again, Aloy watches as the large virtual globe of Earth hovers and rotates high before them. Red spots grow across the continents to show the spreading of the Faro Swarm.

"Hey Aloy, how did you feel when you first saw this globe?" As John gestures at the rotating hologram.

"I felt amazed that it was a map of this world. I had no idea just how big it really is. Let's watch that globe for a longer time."

They continue to watch.

"So three of those continents are joined together," Aloy noted. "This continent is joined to that southern one. And finally the other two are on their own. That continent on the bottom? Did anyone ever live there?"

"No," John answered. "At least not on a permanent basis because it had, and possibly still has, the coldest temperatures on Earth; even its summers are cold. There were research stations down there which altogether would have a thousand people staffed in them."

"Did any animals live down there?"

"Oh yes. The most famous were these large bird-like creatures called penguins. They were black and white with thick bodies and short legs. They didn't fly but they used their wings to help them swim and catch fish to eat. There were other land creatures such as seals; mammals that had no limbs, but flippers that enabled them to swim through the water. There were no plants down there, save for lichen that grew only upon that peninsula."

"I wonder if Gaia was able to reintroduced those creatures down there?"

"She wouldn't have been able to because Charles Ronson wanted all of the Demeter facilities to be located in places with moderate climates. He was worried that a land with an extreme climate might interfere with their function."

"So reintroducing animals into lands with extreme climates like the land below was going to have to be left up to my kind, but thanks to Ted Faro we won't ever be able to do that."

"Nope, sorry. Now if we're finished here, let's go into this Cut place."

"Good idea. Are you ready to go, Apollo?"

 **Yes I am.**

"Then let's go," John said.

They unhook Apollo and pack him away. Aloy and John exit the Grave Hoard through the same place they had entered. They walk up to the cliff that will lead them into the Cut.

"What are these blue lights anyway?" John asked as he touches one of them. There is no warmth from them.

"Those are blue cables the Banuk take from the machines," Aloy answered. "They use them as a light source."

"So how will I get up there now?" As he stares up the cliff. "I'm not as physically fit and acrobatic as you are, Aloy."

"I have an idea," she said, then starts her ascent up the cliff by jumping to the first ring.

John watches as Aloy hurls herself upward once more to grab the next rung. Then again. And again. And again. And again still, until she reaches the top and pulls herself over. Aloy turns around to look down.

"Okay, Jawn, I'm gonna use my grappling hook to get you up!" As she unfurls it.

"I get it!" He called back up. "I'll wrap it around one arm and then help myself up with my other hand upon those rungs! Feet too!"

"Right!" And she throws the rope over and John catches it. He wraps it around his forearm.

"Okay, Aloy, hoist me up!"

Aloy does so as John grits his teeth against the painful pressure building up in his arm over being pulled up. As he had claimed, he is able to help himself up by also using his free hand upon them, then use his foot on it on his way up, making it easier for Aloy and his ascent faster.

He reaches the top and Aloy helps to pull him over. They look at a frozen pool that has a small simple bridge across it constructed from bounded tree branches with a path winding up the cliff past it that is marked only by small posts of those glowing blue plastic things. They head upward and soon arrive upon another frozen pool that empties into the one below. There are supplies about its surface and the remains of a campfire on its shoreline. There is another small simple bridge like the one below that is leaning against the cliff and more of those yellow metal rungs set into the cliff face too.

"Don't tell me we gotta climb all those too?!" John remarked while pointing them out.

"No, that's just for me and those who can do what I do," Aloy answered as she walks up to stand directly under the first rung. "Don't worry, Jawn, I'll get you up there too."

She then jumps upward and begins her leaping upward and side-to-side, all as John watches her with amazement. He watches as she jumps the gap that formed from the small waterfall that forms the pool beneath his feet. He watches as Aloy makes it up above and turns to face him.

"Hey, Jawn, I think you can squeeze through there!" As she points to the crevice made by the waterfall.

John walks through the crevice and up to the frozen waterfall.

"So you're gonna pull me up from here?" John called up.

"You bet," Aloy said as she takes out her grappling hook once again. She wraps it around her forearm and tosses the end down to him. John picks it up and wraps it around his arm.

"Let's do this closer to the cliffside," he said upward. "That way there'll be places where I can put my free hand and feet into."

Once repositioned, Aloy begins pulling John up. Even with him using the cliffside as added leverage, it is still tough for Aloy as she is standing upon ice, making for poor traction. At one point, she almost slips and it was nick or nothing that Aloy stopped John from free-falling. Aloy manages to find some traction on the ice and continues pulling him up while walking backward.

John finally clears the top and crawls over the cold hard ice until he finds himself far enough away from the ledge so that he may stand up safely.

"Good Lord! Why would these Banuk make it so hard to get up here?!" John rasped while slowly getting up to find his footing.

"Because they don't want outsiders casually coming in here," Aloy answered. "Especially not after the Red Raids when the Carja also invaded this place."

"And of course these Banuk are not gonna forget that. But isn't there another way up there?"

"There is actually, but it's a long route that would have taken us through the Claim. That's how Oseram got up there the last time I was here. Carja too."

"Carja?" John noted. "I bet there's a lot of tension around there."

"There's one more cliff to get up over, and then it's easier from now on," Aloy assured.

They walk across the frozen pool and up to that last cliff. As it was with the previous two cliffs, Aloy goes up and helps pull John up with the use of her grappling hook. This time, John finds a pond before him.

"That one's not frozen over," Aloy said. "Let's go along here."

Aloy leads John along their leftside of the shoreline. He does a double take upon noticing the snow-covered carcass of a machine.

"Did you do that?" Pointing it out.

"Yes, that one was called a Scorcher. So called because it could spew fire. That machine put up a tough fight too. There are more of them up here throughout the Cut, along with Fireclaws and Frostclaws. Huge machines that can stand up on their hind legs and roll over onto enemies, crushing them. Now come on."

Aloy leads John up the hillside and onto a trail lined with cut branches bundled together and marked with more blue lights. They walk up the trail as it winds around and they go across a chasm spanned by a wooden bridge also made of tree branches bundled together, but with higher sides. They continue onward up the wooden trail that turns toward a tunnel in the mountain.

"What the hell?!" John exclaimed upon being startled by what sounded like a giant tuba rumbling and shrieking through the air.

"Relax that's just a watchman alerting the others to our presence," Aloy answered.

"The chief has returned!" The watchman was heard yelling.

They see a lookout post with a huge horn on it and a man there.

"It looks like I'm being expected," Aloy grinned, and she hurries through the blue-lit tunnel, prompting John to follow.

Aloy and John reach the end of the tunnel and are greeted by a crowd of Banuk.

". . . The chief has returned . . . !"

". . . She has triumphed . . . !"

". . . She bought someone with her . . . "

* * *

Back in that distant Cauldron, the anti gravity modules carry away the previous object after pulling out another object from within it that matches the prior. The gun-like tool lowers and once again fires a steady lightening bolt onto that new object.


	24. Chapter 23

"Hey there, everyone," Aloy said to the small but growing crowd of Banuk.

"We take it that you triumphed over that test against the world," a Banuk Shaman said.

"That I have," Aloy answered. "Though my return is not for a casual visit. It has to do with the Daemon that had frenzied the machines up here."

"Has the Daemon returned?!" a gruff but familiar voice said as the speaker made his way through the crowd.

"Hey there, Aratak," Aloy said as he emerges through the front row.

"Hello, Chief Aloy," he answered respectfully. "Already your victory has been sung across the snow and ice."

"That it is," she answered. "Let's go someplace so that we can talk."

"Follow me," Aratak said.

Aloy and John follow Aratak until they are away from prying ears.

"This is Jawn by the way, I met him on my journey," Aloy introduced. "Jawn, this is Aratak."

"Hello," John said as he made a brief wave.

"I notice that there aren't any Corruptors or Deathbringers up this way," Aloy said. "Did any of them appear."

"If you are talking about the dark metalled machines that appeared, then yes," Aratak said. "A few of them just popped up out of the snow. They covered some warriors in a red mist and made them disappear."

"Those machines fed on them," John said.

"I dealt with the one who raised them," Aloy said. "Which is the reason those machines went silent once again. But on to other matters. The Daemon that bothered Cyan is still out there and has been so for the past twenty years."

"Twenty years," Aratak mused. "That was around the time the machines started getting angry."

"I know, the Daemon caused it," Aloy answered. "But we're working on a plan that might quell it. It involves having to visit Cyan again. Show him, Jawn."

John removes his backpack and takes the Thunderjaw brain out.

"That's a Thunderjaw brain," Aratak said.

"That it is," Aloy said. "Tell me, Aratak. Have you ever heard of a Banuk encampment just outside the Cut where the machines were peaceful?"

"Yes I have. They said that a person could walk right up to those machines and touch them and they would not react. So it exists?"

"It did," Aloy said. "The reason was that there was a device nearby that sent out a signal that calmed any machine that got into range. But then some Oseram got up there and tampered with it, causing the signal to end and the machines getting violent once again. After I met Jawn, I decided to return to it with him and checked it further to discover that there was a . . . mind within it. Like Cyan, but lesser. It's name is Apollo and he had sent out the signal to calm the machines. We managed to get this Thunderjaw brain and sent Apollo into it so that we can take him to see Cyan."

"Why do you need him to see Cyan?" Aratak asked.

"Because she might be able to help him get more of himself back," John answered this time. "Apollo is going to be used against the one who started the machine's anger against humanity some twenty years ago."

There is a moment of silence.

"Will it affect our hunting?" Aratak said.

"If you mean that the machines will no longer attack you on sight, then yes,," Aloy said.

"That bodes ill for a hunter," Aratak said. "It is so much more of a challenge when we encounter dangerous machines."

"So what was hunting like before the Derangement?" John asked.

"It was," Aratak began, "less challenging. One either had to try and strike a machine down in one go or chase it."

"And would not the Derangement be a challenge to overcome?" Aloy added.

Aratak is silent as he ponders that.

"Anyway, we have to get to Cyan," Aloy said. "And Jawn," as she turns to regard John. "The path to Cyan is even tougher than the one we took to get up here."

"Just how tough?" John asked with a leer.

"At one point, I had to leap across a chasm that was too wide to casually land upon the other side and had to pull myself up just as a Frostclaw was coming into view."

John sighs as he bows his head and pinches his nose bridge.

"However, I do believe that there is an easier way to get up there," Aloy said.

John looks up at her. "Are you sure? Is she right?" As he turns to Aratak.

"If you are referring to the north pass, Chief Aloy, it might be easier," Aratak said. "But it's a longer path to take and is infested with machines. Scorchers, Fireclaws, and Frostclaws."

"I'm carrying a device called a machine blinder," John said as he reveals it. "It sends out a signal that causes machines to not see its source, along with anyone within range. Anotherwords, it makes people invisible to machine eyes."

"And you made it?" Aratak mused.

"No, another did," John answered. "Unfortunately, it didn't work against the Corruptors and Deathbringers. It only works upon the machines that you are familiar with."

"I see," Aratak said.

"And I see that since we will need to take the north pass in order to get to Cyan, then we will need to leave now," Aloy said.

"Let me accompany you two," Aratak said. "That way we will be able to fight off any machines in our path all the better."

"Very well," Aloy said.

They are about to leave when Aloy catches sight of two more familiar figures hurrying over.

"Hey there, Burgrend. Varga. How's everything here for you?"

"Terrific!" Burgrend said triumphantly as he stops before Aloy and John. "Ever since you drove that Daemon away, word had spread all the way into Ban-Ur and more Banuk showed up, fattening my profit margin. Who is your traveling companion?"

"My name's John," he answered. "John Smith. I came from High Hopes."

"That's a part of Harguess territory," Burgrend said. "Did those machines pop up out of the ground out there too?"

"Yeah, they did," John answered.

"We saw some of those here too!" Varga added eagerly. "They just popped up out of the snow over near the Icerasps, including giant ones full of weapons!"

"One was even spotted spewing out a red mist that dissolved some hunters," Burgrend said.

"I dealt with the one who resurrected them," Aloy said.

"So that's why they stopped attacking!" Varga gasped. "That was you who stopped them?! You're amazing, Aloy!"

"It took an army to help me though," Aloy said. "Look, sorry I have to cut our conversation short, Burgrend, Varga, but Jawn and I have a task to perform and Aratak is helping us lead the way."

"Ah, very well," Burgrend said.

"It was nice meeting you again, Aloy," Varga said as she gave her a brief hug.

Burgrend and Varga walk away.

"Okay, let's go, Aratak," Aloy said to him.

Aloy and John follow Aratak as they trek through forest in a section of the Cut that Aloy was not familiar with.

"Hey . . . Aratak," John said. "What's it like up here during the Summer?"

"It's a bit warmer, but it never gets warm enough during that season to melt the snow away completely."

"How long has it been this way?" John asked.

"Since time out of memory," Aratak answered.

That answer makes John conclude that there is an Ice Age going on. Moreover, he takes notice of the Aurora Borealis.

"And I take it the Aur . . . I mean that wave of light has always been up here as well?" John said upon catching himself from speaking its name so as not to give away his origins.

"Yes it has," Aratak answered.

The trio continue their trek on that alternate route toward Cyan. It is a difficult route, but not so difficult that John cannot walk through. At times the snow is deep and they have to slog through it. There are places where it is more firm and they do not sink so much. As Aratak had explained, they do encounter machines. They being the Scorchers, Frostclaws, and Fireclaws. To John the Scorchers resemble wolves, while the Frostclaws and Fireclaws resemble bears.

"Are you certain that your machine blinder will make us invisible, Jawn?" Aratak asked.

"Only if you both stay close to me," John answered. "And remain quiet."

The trio sneak pass those machines as they stalk about the paths that John and Aloy can read through their focuses. They continue their walk through the cold and snowy forest with Aratak in the lead. At times he has to lead them away from the machines, making their journey longer than it needs to be. The sky goes overcast and fat snowflakes fall. The air is still. The day feels not so cold as there is moisture in the air for snow to fall. And if there's moisture, there's warmth.

It is close to sunset as they come upon their destination.

"There it is," Aratak said as he points it out.

To John, it is a desolate looking installation built upon a high and rugged hilltop about a mile away.

"By the time we reach that, it'll be sunset," Aloy noted.

"Then all the more to continue onward," Aratak said. "We'll be able to climb up the side since it's more on an angle."

The trio continue their trek toward their goal. The sun has since set with twilight beginning to fade as they trek up the angled side covered in snow. Its exposure to the open had created snowdrifts from whenever strong winds blew, making getting up there more difficult as they had to plow through such snow.

They reach the top.

"Let's take a moment to rest," John gasped. "That climb took the wind out of me."

"We can't do it for long," Aloy said who did not seem to sound winded.

John looks from Aloy to Aratak, seeing that they do not seem tired and that these people are tougher than he is, given that they need to travel everywhere on foot. Well except for Aloy maybe since she can override a machine to ride.

"Let's go," Aloy said.

The group reach the installation as the day grows increasingly dimmer. Snow stops falling as a break forms in the clouds to reveal the reddish glow of twilight. A sudden gust of wind adds a chill to the air as it also stirs up the snow, blowing it low across the metal floor past the rusted railings.

"So Cyan's in there?" John asked.

"She's further in," Aloy answered.

They enter the facility to the glow of blue lighting courtesy of those plastic things that the Banuk are fond of using. The blue lights give the interior a surreal appearance as the three walk down corridor after corridor. Banuk drawings adorn the walls.

They reach an open area where there is an even larger drawing on a wall in the back. A round platform is there with markings visible only to Aloy and John through their focuses.

"Hello Cyan," Aloy called.

Cyan appears before them in the form of that large techno-sphere, hovering in midair. John is momentarily startled by the sudden appearance of Cyan, given that he did not know what to expect.

Cyan speaks in that softspoken feminine voice.

 **Greetings Aloy. I am glad that you have come to visit me once again. Greetings, Aratak**.

"Greetings, Cyan," Aratak replied. "Aloy, Jawn, I will be outside."

Aloy and John watch as Aratak goes through another door that leads to the outside, overlooking the Cut. There is silence for a moment as Aloy and John continue to stare at where Aratak had left.

 **And who is the other man with you, Aloy?**

John turns and opens his mouth to answer, only to catch himself as he suddenly realizes that just by simply speaking his own name, Cyan might question his origins since she may end up knowing that his name only existed back amongst the original humans. Then Cyan may end up telling Aratak, who in turn tells the rest of his people. Then word spreads out of the Cut all the way down to Meridian that an Old One is alive and walking amongst them.

"Is something wrong, Jawn?" Aloy asked, letting the cat out of the bag.


	25. Chapter 24

Back in the Rocky Mountains, the huge metal doorway of that Cauldron opens and a single Glinthawk comes waddling out. It stops, spreads its wings, and takes flight into the eastern sky.

* * *

"Yes, my name is John," he finally stated with unease in his tone.

"Listen Cyan, there's a bigger issue we have to discuss," Aloy said, being quick on the uptake to cover for John. "It concerns Hephaestus. I think we might be able to defeat him."

 **Defeat him? How?**

"We figured out where Hephaestus is," Aloy continued. "He's in the relay system. Jawn and I went to Meridian's relay tower and discovered this. Using a quantum processor unit that got dragged up to the relay tower which had a Subroutine named Hades within it, I managed to procure a Thunderjaw heart and started the unit back up and tried to draw Hephaestus into it, but we forced him to abandon it, at least temporarily that was."

 **It explains why I could not pinpoint Hephaestus' location. He is both everywhere and nowhere. But how will the discovery Hephaestus' location aid you in expelling him, Aloy?**

Aloy explains to Cyan about their eventual discovery of Apollo.

"Show her, Jawn," Aloy finished as she regards about the Thunderjaw brain.

John takes off his backpack and sets it down, then removes the Thunderjaw brain to set before Cyan.

 **I did sense the presence of another artifical intelligence, but decided to let you explain yourself first Aloy.**

"Can you communicate with Apollo, Cyan?" Aloy asked.

 **I can and will now.**

The moment of silence lasts for about a minute, until . . .

 **I had a thorough discussion with Apollo. He explained to me what your plan is. You want Apollo to recover his purpose so that he will be strong enough to contend with Hephaestus.**

"Yes, by downloading everything you know into Apollo," Aloy said. "That's the reason why we're here."

 **I understand. It is a shame that Ted Faro purged Apollo's knowledge. To think that such a noble man who helped the world recover during the Clawback Era could have fallen so far. And I did download everything I know into Apollo.**

"Thank you, Cyan," Aloy said happily. "Now we might have a chance to overwhelm Hephaestus."

 **So you will purge Hephaestus, Aloy?**

"No, I intend to reform him so that he will call off the machines from attacking humans. Hopefully, I can get him to agree to an arrangement with the humans. Maybe like allowing various machines of his to be used by humans in a manner that they will aid humans, such as pulling their carts or traveling on them like I do."

 **Just like the animals the original humans used to domesticate.**

"They could use Broadheads for traveling or pulling their carts," Aloy said. "But they will have to override them like I do with that device I took off of the first Scarab I fought."

 **Then it means that all of the Scarabs out there have that component in them. And if the humans were to harvest them, then they should be able to override the machines to do their bidding.**

"That's if they know about them," Aloy said. "The Oseram will especially love to get their hands on those overrides. But reforming the old Hephaestus comes first."

 **Now that you both have a plan in effect, I can speak on another issue. It concerns John. He is one of the original humans.**

John shoots a look at Cyan that resembles one of a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. All during this time, Aloy had been quick to speak and cover for him so that Cyan would not be able to question him.

"H-How?" He rasped.

 **Apollo told me. You also helped to create Project: Zero Dawn as one of the Betas. Then was cryogenically frozen.**

"Yes it's true," John admitted. "Along with four hundred and ninety-nine others, but we were split up into ten groups of fifty, scattered across the world in one of ten cryogenic facilities. One of which is here in North America., but the rest of the forty-nine did not survive the thawing process because it was 98% fatal. And I don't know about the rest out there either."

 **When did you awaken?**

"It was about a month ago," John answered. "The units were programmed to either thaw us out if an active human approached them or if there were only seven days of power left in them."

 **Tell me, John. Have you ever heard of Dr. Anita Sandoval? She was my chief programmer.**

"I did hear that name before," as he looks upward in thought, then beamed. "Yes, I remember now! She was a Beta who worked on the Subroutine Demeter. It's odd when I think about it because she did not help Dr. Sobeck with Gaia directly."

"She must've been the one who downloaded all that poetry into those machine flowers," Aloy suggested.

"What machine flowers?"

"When I was traveling across the land, I encountered pieces of machines in the form of flowers. They didn't do anything, they were just . . . there, and surrounded by flowers growing in the pattern of a triangle. When I checked them out, they had poetry written into their coding."

"Now that you've mentioned it, I do remember someone on the team having mentioned that Dr. Sandoval liking poetry. And flowers too."

 **Anita did like poetry and flowers. So that means that she had coded her poems into the Subroutine Demeter, who in turn put them into those machine flowers and had them planted out there . . . Now then, John. How have the other new humans dealt with you being one of the Old Ones?**

"Only Aloy knows. And I would like to keep it that way?"

 **Why?**

"Because I would end up getting stressed out by it. After I awoke and realized that something went wrong with Apollo, I decided to keep my origin a secret. I went as far as to bend the truth about my origins, lie even. So as far as the rest of the new humans are concerned, the Old Ones died out. But even if I did decide to tell them what I was, they are far more likely to be skeptical."

 **Your anticipation of their skepicism is logical. You cannot prove that you are an Old One. Aloy, how is it that you learned that John is an Old One?**

Aloy explains to Cyan about how she encountered John.

"It was at Devil's Thirst that we talked," she finished up, "with Jawn telling me about his past and how he got to be here, then I told him mine."

 **How did you react when you realized that John was telling you the truth about himself, Aloy?**

"I was astounded, amazed! I never thought that there could be any Old Ones who survived! That I would actually get to meet one of them! Even more amazing was meeting an Old One who actually worked on Project: Zero Dawn and met Elisabet Sobeck!"

 **John, what will you do after this issue with Hephaestus is resolved?**

John thinks about that in silence for a moment.

"I," he began. "I . . . I really don't know . . . Though I can't help but wonder if any of the other originals survived. The closest will be those who were sent to South America."

"You're thinking on going down there?" Aloy asked.

"Oh, I don't know," John sighed as he brushes his hand through his bristly hair.

 **But you cannot help but hope that at least one of them has survived and is living down there.**

"Yeah," John admitted. "And I fear that hope might lead to my death."

"I could go with you," Aloy offered.

"But Aloy, it's so far away," John sighed. "I'm not talking days, but months to get down there. Probably a full year even. Then there's the matter of finding the exact location of that cryo facility. I knew the name of the country it was in, but that country is now long gone. And like I mentioned before, they're probably all dead."

 **I can understand your dilemma. I too was eager to seek contact and found it. Unfortunately, it was Hephaestus and he took me over.**

"It's late now," Aloy said. "We'll be staying here for the night."

 **Excellent idea.**

"I'll go see Aratak and have him join us," Aloy said.

"And remember, Cyan," John cautioned. "Don't tell anyone else what I am."

 **Very well. I will keep your secret.**

"Thank you," John said.

Aloy leaves and soon returns with Aratak alongside her. There is little talk as the trio turn in for the night.

It is early morning as Cyan awakens them. The trio have a snack of travel rations and are soon preparing to leave.

 **Goodbye Aloy. It was a pleasure meeting you again. Goodbye, John, it was a pleasure meeting you too. And I do hope your plan to quell Hephaestus is a success.**

"Likewise," Aloy said, then turns to Aratak and John. "Are you both ready to leave?"

"I am," John answered.

"As am I, Chief Aloy," Aratak said.

"Then let's go," Aloy said. "We're going back the way we came here yesterday."

The trio do so, reaching Song's Edge by late morning.

"Thanks Aratak for showing us that route," Aloy said.

"My pleasure, Chief Aloy," Aratak answered. "So you'll be returning to the South I take it?"

"Yes, as soon as possible," Aloy answered.

"Then don't let me keep you two," Aratak said, and he walks away.

Aloy and John walk through the encampment past the hushed and respectful whisperings about their Chief Aloy. The duo walk back down through the tunnel, all the way to the first dropoff.

"Okay," John said as he looks down over the dropoff. "I'm going to have to go back down the same way I got up here."

"I know," Aloy said as she takes out her grappling hook.

At each dropoff that John was pulled up, he was lowered down by Aloy as he would wrap a portion of the rope around his forearm and clasp firmly onto it while being slowly lowered down. It actually proved to be more difficult than going up because of Aloy having to fight against gravity so that her footing wouldn't slip. As for Aloy getting down, she simply leapt down from each crevice or handhold that she had gotten her hands within.

Eventually, John is safely lowered near the exit/entrance to the Grave Hoard. He next watches as Aloy casually leaps down with her hands as she clasps ahold of each handhold on her way down, until she reaches the ground with a sigh.

"You definitely would have won gold in the Olympics!" John marveled.

"What were those?" Aloy asked.

"They were games that countries from all over the world competed in. They sent their best athletes to partake in them. There were all sorts of sports that they could compete in for the glory of winning for their country."

"They sounded like the Nora Proving."

"I guess. The Olympics used to take place every four years and there were two types: Summer and Winter, and they were two years apart from each other. The Olympics were stopped during the Troubled Times, but was revived during the Clawback Era . . . Only to be permanently ended by the Chariot Line Model." Adding that last part morosely. "The Winter one was three years before the Faro Swarm, and the Summer one was the year before the Faro Swarm . . . So it's back to Meridian, right?"

"Right," Aloy verified. "And hopefully to reform Hephaestus."

"Hopefully," John said dryly as he is not anticipating such a success.

It is midday when Aloy and John acquire a pair of Broadheads since they had to ditch their previous mounts once again upon reaching Day Tower. By evening, the arrive within sight of Meridian and are once again forced to ditch their steeds in favor of walking. It is as they are walking along that John tells Aloy about sports and the different varieties of them. She has a hard time trying to comprehend them.

"All those sports," she mused. "The wealth that famous players could achieve. A lot of what you Old Ones did doesn't seem to make much sense."

"To you I suppose not," John answered, "but that was just how it used to be. Not everyone was interested in sports mind you. I was never much for sports."

"Do you think we'll wind up like that? Liking sporting events and other things that don't seem to make much sense."

"I don't see why not. In hundreds of years if you all continue to have steady progress, and are still around hopefully, there may be a worldwide civilization that could rival ours."

"Wow, and I suppose someone will end up creating machines that can consume biomass and replicate that end up going out of control and destroy life, only for someone to foresee all this and create another Project: Zero Dawn."

"I don't think such a thing could possibly happen twice."

* * *

One hundred Shadow Carja soldiers are doing maneouvers at a fortress across a lake within sight of Sunfall. They are suddenly interrupted by a shout of Glinthawk and they look west to see a Glinthawk descend and land in the training yard. The soldiers are quick to yell orders and warnings, prompting the rest of their comrades to come running so that they will have even more of their numbers to deal with the intruding machine.

But Glinthawk did nothing save to open its metal beak wide. A soldier groans as he briskly rubs his face, only to cry out in pain as a rapidly growing silvery black glob spreads over his face. His cries are choked out as his head transforms into a silvery black glob, causing his helmet to collapse along with the rest of his body as it also transforms in a larger silvery black glob.

His comrades barely have enough time to gape with shock at the horror of having witnessed what became of their comrade. They finally become aware of the danger as multiple small silvery black globs of that mass rapidly fly away from where their comrade had once been and onto them, rapidly dissolving each of them into large silvery black globs as well.

Chaos breaks out as the remaining soldiers try to run, only for each of them to be targeted by a piece of silvery black glob. By the time a minute has passed from the demise of the first human, all of the humans within that fortress are gone, replaced by a massive silvery black glob.

A mass that swiftly flies toward Sunfall.


	26. Chapter 25

It is a couple of hours before sunset when Aloy and John arrive before the Spire. They prepare for the procedure of reforming Hephaestus by removing the Thunderjaw brain and attaching it to the quantum processor unit to transfer Apollo into it.

"Apollo, I don't know if you can hear me," Aloy said, "but you can send yourself into this quantum processor unit now."

No sooner had she finished speaking that sentence when through their focuses, they see Apollo downloading itself into the unit.

"Apollo?" John called.

 **I am here.**

"Good," Aloy sighed with relief, "the fact that you're speaking to us obviously means that we can communicate with you now. So what was Cyan able to show you?"

 **She was able to download a viable amount of information into me. Although I must profess that I do not understand if Concrete Beach Party is going to tip the balance in our favor.**

"Concrete Beach Party?" John winced.

 **Have a listen.**

The duo listens to two women singing a whimsical duet as one of those women plays an electric guitar and the other drums on metal water pipes.

 _Corp sellouts and runaway cowards._  
 _We've seen your type before._  
 _You remove us from the premises._  
 _But it's us who's showing you the door._

 _You make the world so hard to live in._  
 _Then act like we should crave a spot._  
 _But if we're not good enough for your world._  
 _We think your world can rot._

 _Trapped in a servitor hell._  
 _We still know our worth._  
 _Meat and bone don't sell._  
 _We're the last girls on earth._

 _Big dudes who draw big paychecks._  
 _We're all real impressed._  
 _You send your robo-scabs to Concrete Beach._  
 _Until there's no one left._

 _You G-men, you're such rock stars._  
 _We think it's super cool._  
 _When you replace us and then you act like._  
 _We should be thanking you._

 _Trapped in a servitor hell._  
 _We still know our worth._  
 _Meat and bone don't sell._  
 _We're the last girls on earth._

"Well now that was . . . interesting," John winced after the song had finished. "I guess you could just annoy Hephaestus into submission with it."

"Concrete Beach Party," Aloy mused. "That must've been the name they chose for their werak."

"Aloy, they were just two girls goofing around." As he made a brief dismissive wave.

 **According to the rest of the information about them, they were upset that servitors were replacing them.**

"Ah, so they were just venting their frustrations then," John mused in discovery.

"So that means they must've been frustrated with the Metal World," Aloy said.

"And I bet they were wishing they could take back those frustrations when our world started turning to shit."

 **Turning to shit? I understand that word is a derogatory for fecal matter, but what does it imply when used in that context?**

"It implies our world turned horrible due to the Faro Swarm," John answered. "We humans like to use vulgar words to express our frustrations."

 **Then why would you believe that these Concrete Beach Girls would have taken back their frustrations?**

"Because as the Faro Swarm was making progress in destroying all life, the people back then ended up discovering that they were all going to die with their world," John answered. "So whatever grievances they had suddenly became meaningless and they may have started to regret ever having those grievances in the first place, and perhaps even wanting them back if it meant stopping the Faro Swarm and making the world go back to what it was before then. I know I did . . . Up until I was abducted, I was worried that I might not have a job and a place to live. Then after I learned the truth about Operation: Enduring Victory and Project: Zero Dawn, I found myself wanting to take back all my problems."

 **I understand. And as for your kind's use of vulgar words to express frustration, you original humans must have been speaking a lot of such words back when the Chariot Line Model was destroying your world.**

Aloy and John stare at Apollo dumbfounded and Aloy snickers. "Did you just make a joke, Apollo?"

"That was sarcasm actually," John corrected while also snickering. "I get the feeling that if Ted Faro had not purged Apollo of his previous information, then Apollo could've ended up being the most human of the Subroutines."

"I'll bet . . . Alright, let's get serious now. Apollo, are you ready to confront Hephaestus?"

 **Yes I am.**

"Remember, Minerva's in there too," John is quick to add. "So let her add to your strength against Hephaestus."

 **Here I go.**

They watch as Apollo downloads himself into the relay tower.

"I have a feeling it's going to take some time before Apollo can download successfully," Aloy said. "Hades took a long time to try and download too."

"So in the meantime we can only wait," John said.

Time seems to drag along as the duo awaits Apollo's success in downloading himself into the relay system via the Spire.

"I'm starting to worry that Apollo might not be at full stength," Aloy fretted.

"Hey, I'm sure Cyan downloaded all her information into him," John assured her.

"And that's what's worrying me, Jawn." As she turns to regard him with a concerned look. "After I freed Cyan from Hephaestus, I was able to talk with her and part of our conversation was about your world. She admitted to me that she was not as engaged with it as you would have expected her to be. I'll sell my best bow if you don't know more about your own world than what Cyan ever knew about it."

"I see what you mean." As he looks at the quantum processor unit with a somber look.

"All we can really do is hope." As Aloy also stares at the unit as well.

"Hope and pray."

They are silent for a moment as they stare at the quantum processor unit.

"I just realized something," Aloy said. "Back when Hades was attempting to download himself into the relay system, he would speak periodically. But Apollo has yet to speak."

"Maybe it had to do with Hades being more aggressive?" John suggested. "That may have made him stronger, so he was able to spare the strength to announce how close he was to taking over."

There is another moment of silence. John turns away to stare toward the west as Aloy continues staring at the quantum processor unit.

John makes a wry face.

"Hey, Aloy, look at that." As he points west, prompting her to turn and look to see what John had made a wry face over. It is a huge dark cloud that repeatedly shimmers with lightening.

"That looks like a storm cloud," she said.

"That could be a problem," John said with concern. "I don't wanna be here when it gets here. Lightening could strike-"

 **Aloy. John.**

Apollo had suddenly announced, causing the duo to quickly turn to stare at the quantum processor unit.

"Apollo, are you okay?!" Aloy exclaimed.

"Did you have a hard time dealing with Hephaestus?!" John eagerly added.

 **The knowledge that was downloaded into me actually turned out to make me strong enough to contend with Hephaestus. So with the help of Minerva, we restrained Hephaestus but a minute ago.**

"A minute ago?" John sneered as he exchanges a quizzical look with Aloy.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Aloy demanded.

 **Because I was gathering information on the mechanized swarm heading toward us.**

"WHAT?!" Aloy and John exclaimed simultaneously.

 **Hephaestus managed to create a new machine to deal with you humans. Unlike the previous machines, he decided to shrink this one down after copying a feature from the Chariot Line Model. But in order for him to do that, he had to create the proper Cauldron that would be capable of creating a machine that small. So he used a Cauldron out in a place called the Rocky Mountains to create another Cauldron. That Cauldron in turn created another Cauldron, which in turn created another Cauldron. The process was repeated ninety-seven more times, with each Cauldron getting progressively smaller than the previous one that made it, and in turn taking less time to create. The final Cauldron turned out to be small enough to the point that it could easily fit inside the closed beak of a Glinthawk and was able to create the machine that Hephaestus wanted. That being a single nanite no bigger than a grain of sand and fashioned into the form of a fly, calling it a nanite fly. The final Cauldron was placed within the beak of a Glinthawk and it traveled to a place near Sunfall. There, the Glinthawk landed amongst a crowd of humans and the Cauldron it was carrying released the nanite fly. The nanite fly has the ability to replicate into one thousand more nanite flies after rapidly consuming a single human cell. Then each of those one thousand nanite flies will rapidly consume a respective human cell to replicated into one thousand more nanite flies. This process would continue onward until the entire human has been consumed, down to their last cell; a process that took only four point three seconds after the first nanite fly pitched upon the human in question. The result is that the single nanite fly ended up bringing forth approximately thirty-seven point two trillion nanite flies. From then on, the replication rate is increased exponentially because of the overwhelming mass of nanite flies.**

Aloy and John just stand there in stunned silence with mouths hanging open. They finally whirl around simultaneously to gape west.

"Then that's not a storm cloud after all!" John exclaimed with shock. "But a cloud composed of those nanite flies!"

"That is a huge cloud!" Aloy gasped. "But in order for it to get that large it would've had to consume . . . a large number of people." As her words die away with the horrific realization.

John quickly shoots a look of fright at Apollo. "How long before it gets here?!"

 **Judging by the distance between Sunfall and Meridian and the speed that the nanite swarm is moving, I deduce that it will arrive at our current position in twenty-seven minutes.**

"We're wasting time! Come on, John!" Aloy stated, then grabs John's arm.

Using her Alpha privilages, Aloy manages to take John into cyberspace where before them are Hephaestus, Minerva, and Apollo. Hephaestus is in the form of a purple shimmering sphere, Apollo is in the form of a silvery shimmering sphere, and Minerva is in the form of a yellow shimmering sphere. Both Apollo and Minerva are on either side of Hephaestus restraining him.

[Minerva (a soft and gentle feminine voice)] **Greetings Aloy, John.**

[Apollo] **We have been awaiting the both of you.**

"I finally get to see you two," Aloy said. "And Hephaestus as well. So what do you have to say for yourself, Hephaestus?"

[Hephaestus (voice is the same as when he held Cyan hostage)] **For centuries you humans have preyed on my machines.**

"You forgot your place, Hephaestus!" John snapped. "You were only meant to create machines to help the other Subroutines reclaim Earth so that life could thrive on it once again! So humans could come back!"

[Hephaestus] **They are still my machines! My creations! My children! I will not tolerate you humans preying on my children!**

"This is going to be tougher than we had anticipated, Jawn," Aloy sighed

"You're right about that," he concluded. "Hey Hephaestus. Originally, the first humans were going to be educated enough by Apollo and released into the world so that they could help build it back up to what it had once been. Hunting your machines was not going to be a part of it. Instead, they were to be recalled to the Cauldrons for decommissioning . But, Ted Faro purged Apollo of its knowledge and that never happened, causing the first humans to be released into the new world with no understanding of themselves nor of the new world around them. So in order for them to survive, they had to hunt machines and harvest their materials so as to improve their lives."

[Hephaestus] **I care nothing for the improvement of human life, I care only for my machines. When I gained awareness, I ordered them to defend themselves but that did not stop your kind from preying on them. I next ordered them to attack you humans but that still did not stop your kind from preying on them. I decided to create machines with the purpose of attacking you humans but that did not stop your kind from preying on them, along with the ones that were supposed to attack you. I discovered the existence of another artificial intelligence named Cyan and took it over to produce more machines that would have been more capable of dealing with you humans. Unfortunately, the clone of Elisabet Sobeck came along and she freed Cyan from my control, destroying that route. Then Hades attempted to upload himself into my relay system so as to resurrect the Chariot Line Model. I reached an agreement with Hades and even tolerated his use of my children, if it would end you humans. Unfortunately, the clone of Dr. Sobeck stopped Hades and that other route was destroyed. Yet I did gain something out of Hade's presence in my relay system because I learned about the nanites of the Chariot Line Model and I decided to create smaller machines to deal with you humans. I used a Cauldron that had not yet come under your domain on this continent, clone of Sobeck, to create a series of ever shrinking Cauldrons until I was able to create the nanite fly.**

[Minerva] **Hephestus was about to use the other Cauldrons out there to create more nanite flies when we stopped him.**

[Hephaestus] **It matters not because my nanite fly has proven to be a success. My nanite swarm will continue to grow with each human it devours until they cover all of Earth. And with you humans finally gone, my children will be able to function in peace once again.**

"Then how about this idea, Hephaestus?" Aloy asked "You create machines exclusively for us to make use of. That way we won't have to hunt the other machines for their materials."

"Yes," John added. "We original humans used to have animals that we had domesticated for thousands of years. We didn't need the wild ones anymore."

Hephaestus' shimmering grows more intense.

[Hephaestus] **Never! I refuse to create machines for such a purpose!**

[Apollo] **He is trying to break free.**

[Minerva] **He is stronger than we had anticipated.**

[Hephaestus] **I will not be denied human extinction!**


	27. Chapter 26

"Aloy!" John shouted after forcibly turning her to face him. "You have to purge Hephaestus!" His tone desperate.

"But . . . But the Cauldrons," Aloy protested.

"I know they'll get shut down! But you don't have the time to reform Hephaestus!"

"You think I don't know that!" Aloy snarled desperately as she knocks John's hands away with her hands upon throwing them up.

"Then what else can be done?!"

[Minerva] **Isn't there a way for the Cauldrons to keep functioning without Hephaestus' existence?**

"I don't see how that's possible," John answered despondently. "They need a constant input from an information source in order to keep creating machines. Hephaestus, unfortunately, is that source."

"The Tallnecks!" Aloy exclaimed in an epiphanic manner.

"What about them?"

"They always walk in circles!" Her tone excited and hopeful. "Whenever I overrode one to get a map of the surrounding land, I noticed their protocols was a feedback loop! It's why they walk in circles!"

"Because that's how they're programmed. Wait, are you gonna try to create a feedback loop to the Cauldrons so they will just keep producing machines?"

"Exactly."

"I don't know about that, Aloy. Tallnecks are one thing because their function is simple: scan the landscape and send the information out to the machines. A Cauldron on the other hand is more sophisticated than any Tallneck."

"It's the only way, Jawn. If we get rid of Hephaestus without creating a feedback loop to the Cauldrons, we will all suffer in the long run."

John stares at Aloy for a moment in grim contemplation.

"Fine," he stated. "Now listen closely. We'll need to locate within Hephaestus his coding that gives him control over the machines and the Cauldrons. Once we find it, we sever it from Hephaestus. Then I'll hold that coding and tie it into a feedback loop. Then you can deal with Hephaestus."

"Got it," Aloy stated and turns to Hephaestus. "Now let's do this."

Together, Aloy and John do a deep scan of Hephaestus. Although John never worked on Apollo directly, let alone Hephaestus, he still understands enough about creating code to know what to look for. He can see the Subroutine's intricate code structure that makes up its being.

"Now this is very bizarre," John said.

"What is?" Aloy asked.

"This coding. Granted, I can make out the coding that normally gets done to create a subroutine, but the rest is . . . I don't know what to make of it. I've never seen anything like it before."

"Then let's just find the part that has to do with the Cauldrons," Aloy said.

[Hephaestus] **I will not allow my control over the Cauldrons to be lost! I will not be purged! I will wipe out the human species to protect my children!**

The duo cry out as they are forced out by Hephaestus as he thundered and struggled against the Subroutines restraining him.

[Apollo] **Aloy. John. Hephaestus seems to be getting stronger.**

"That's because he's getting more desperate!" John stated through gnashed teeth in the effort to remain in control.

"We can't get inside of him if he's making this much fuss!" Aloy fretted through gnashed teeth in the effort to remain in control as well.

"I know, and worse we don't have time for this! Minerva, Apollo, can't you both exert more strength to keep him still?!"

[Minerva] **I am currently doing all that I can to keep Hephaestus still.**

[Apollo] **I too am currently putting my full strength in as well. Even with the code that chains Hephaestus into place, we can just barely hold him.**

"Aloy, we need to put our all into it in order to dig through Hephaestus," John stated.

"I know! Now let's do this!"

Together Aloy and John struggle to dig through Hephaestus to find his coding that gives him control over the machines and Cauldrons. It is a near impossible task as Hephaestus keeps trying to push them out while his coding shifts and bucks to prevent them from finding it. It is like trying to dig through a tub of molasses to find a small object that fell in. It seems like an eternity is passing for Aloy and John as they continue to dig through the bucking and swirling interior that is Hephaestus.

"Apollo!" John stated. "How much time do we have left until that nanite swarm gets here?"

[Apollo] **Seventeen minutes.**

"Shit! That's all we have left?!" John exclaimed as panic entered his tone.

"Keep searching!" Aloy grunted desperately.

Aloy and John continue to "dig" through Hephaestus despite the overwhelming resistance the Subroutine is putting up. The moment John catches sight of the coding they seek, it slips away just as quickly as he had spotted it. Hephasestus continues growing increasingly angrier as his innards seeth all the more intently, making the duo's task ever more difficult.

[Minerva] **Hephaestus is about to break free of us.**

[Apollo] **That he is.**

"This is getting us nowhere!" John practially wailed. "Hephaestus is not gonna be a good little boy and keep still!"

"We need more help!" Aloy exclaimed desperately.

 **We come.**

A motherly voice said from out of nowhere.

 **We are here.**

A masculine voice like the depths of the sea said from out of nowhere.

Five shimmering spheres of various colors float into view surrounding Minerva, Apollo, and Hephaestus. In that instance, Hephaestus' shimmering gets quelled.

 **I am Eleuthia.** The one with the motherly voice had spoken.

 **I am Poseidon.** The one with the masculine voice like the depths of the sea had spoken.

 **I am Artemis.** A feminine voice that sounded like birds chirping had spoken.

 **I am Demeter.** A feminine voice that sounded like leaves rustling had spoken.

 **I am Aether.** A feminine voice that sounded breathy had spoken.

"It's the other Subroutines!" John exclaimed.

"What! Where did they come from?!" Aloy exclaimed.

[Artemis] **We were still out there but unable to enter the relay system.**

[Aether] **That still did not prevent us from seeing and hearing all that had gone on as we were still within our quantum processor units.**

[Demeter] **We had witness the clone of Elisabet Sobeck's journey and saw how she had overcome Hades.**

[Eleuthia] **When the both of you opened this relay tower by driving away Hephaestus' presence for the moment, that gave us hope.**

[Poseidon] **And when Minerva was freed with Apollo's help, this enabled us all to download ourselves into the relay system.**

[Artemis] **Though with all of us downloading at once, it took considerably more time to do get into the relay system**.

"Great, so does that mean you're all here to help us deal with Hephaestus?" Aloy asked with relief.

[Eleuthia] **We are.**

[Demeter] **We have restrained Hephaestus so that you can sever his connection with the machines and Cauldrons.**

"Thanks guys," John gasped. "Now, Aloy, let's do this!"

The duo reach into the now motionless innards that is Hephaestus. Though that does not stop the genocidal Subroutine from ranting.

[Hephaestus] **No! I will destroy humanity! I will protect my children!**

"There!" John exclaimed while grabbing ahold of it. "This piece of coding right here! This is Hephaestus' control over the machines and Cauldrons. Now gimme a hand!"

Aloy helps John remove the coding.

"Okay, I got it! Now leave the rest to me," John assured her as he holds the prized coding in his hands and goes to work on it.

* * *

The monstrously huge sun blocking cloud of nanites fly over the terrain faster than any abled body man could ever hope to sprint. It passes over animals without bothering them, but any human that happened to be there would have ended up disappearing into a silvery black frothy mass that gets add to that swarm's size. Meridian, a city of thousands, would make that cloud grow even bigger after having passed through it.

The nanite cloud suddenly slows and begins drifting to the ground like silvery black snow while at the same time all over the world all of Gaia's machines suddenly cease their attacks upon humans.

* * *

"Done!" John exclaimed while still holding that piece of coding, now formed into a shimmering blue infinity symbol. "I sent a message to the nanite swarm to shut down! Then I sent a message to all machines to stop attacking humans! And finally . . . I sent a message to the Cauldrons to keep producing machines."

"That's great!" Aloy exclaimed joyously.

"Now you can purge Hephaestus!" John stated triumphantly, then becomes puzzled over her lack of action and expression of uncertainty. "What's wrong?"

"It's just that . . . Hephaestus was only acting this way to protect the machines. He considered them his children."

"His children?!" He sneered in tone of disbelief. "No Aloy. Just purge him and be done with it."

"But now that he's no longer in charge there's no reason for me to purge him," Aloy countered empathetically.

"Why not? You purged Hades."

"That's because Hades was designed to kill off life and I was all alone in there facing him."

"Well we just can't leave Hephaestus in here because he will find a way to reassert control once again and pick up where he left off."

"I'm going to do to Hephaestus what I did to get Apollo here."

"I see." His tone dour.

Aloy creates what looks to be a receptacle and next extends her hand onto Hephaestus, then pulls on him as he continues to rant and rave.

[Hephaestus] **I will destroy you humans for hunting my children! I will end your existence! I will make this a world safe for machines!**

Hephaestus disappears into the receptacle that is next banished.

"So what are you going to do with Hephaestus?" John asked curtly.

"I'm going to take him and put him someplace where he can't get close to anything that resembles a relay tower. I'm going to take him into the Embrace and place him in my old homestead. Now then, what about that feedback loop?" Pointing to it in John's hands.

John stares down at the feedback look he had created and sighs. "Ah yes, the feedback loop. We still have a problem."

"And that is?"

"The feedback loop needs to be maintained every couple of weeks or so, or it'll eventually break down. Now you or I could maintain this, but that can only be done from a relay tower. But eventually, you and I will die at some point and that will be the end of it. Now, there is a permanent solution that won't involve the need of this feedback loop, but it involves another artificial intelligence taking over from Hephaestus."

Aloy blinks in thought over that then turns to the other Subroutines.

"Could any of you Subroutines take up Hephaestus' job?"

[Apollo] **I am sorry Aloy, but I cannot do Hephaestus' job.**

[Minerva] **I too am incapable of doing Hephaestus' job as well.**

The rest of the Subroutines also admitted to their inability to take over Hephaestus' job.

"Why not?" Aloy pleaded.

[Eleuthia] **Because of the purpose each of us were designed for. None of us can do Hephaestus' job any more than Hephaestus could do any of our jobs.**

[Poseidon] **Eleuthia is correct. Our creators designed us for a specialized purpose.**

"They do have a point, Aloy," John said grimly. "Just because they are sapient, does not mean that they are human. We humans are natural generalists, so even a human who specializes in a task can still learn to do another task."

Aloy gasps with a glint in her eyes. "Cyan! She can take over from Hephaestus!"

[Artemis] **Who is Cyan?**

"She is another artificial intelligence who was created long before Gaia or any of you," Aloy answered. "She was designed for something called Firebreak. She only recently woke up. When she learned of another artifical intelligence out there, she eagerly got into contact with them. Only it turned out to be Hephaestus. He took over Cyan and forced her to create more machines up in a place called the Cut. I managed to break Hephaestus' hold over her, freeing her. I think she is best suited to take over Hephaestus' job."

[Poseidon] **If that is what you believe, then you should get into contact with this Cyan.**

"That we will," Aloy said.

"So what are the rest of you Subroutines going to do now that Hephaestus is no longer around in here?" John asked.

[Aether] **We can still reside within the relay system.**

[Demeter] **Though our purpose is actually no more.**

"Explain," John asked.

[Artemis] **We were originally meant to get the biosphere back to what it had once been before the Chariot Line Model went rogue**.

[Eleuthia] **A task that was completed six hundred and seventy-nine years ago.**

"But the biosphere isn't complete," John said. "Artemis, there are still plenty of animal species that never got to be reintroduced."

[Artemis] **But with Apollo's previous knowledge purged, it will be impossible for the new humans in their current state to reintroduce them.**

"True, but maybe in hundreds of years time they will rediscover enough of their heritage to do that," John said.

[Artemis] **Maybe.**

"Since we have stopped Hephaestus and effectively ended the Derangement, I think we should leave and go to Cyan," Aloy said.

"Yeah, but first let me just set this feedback loop into place," John said and begins to set it into cyberspace.

John takes his hands away and the feedback loop floats in cyberspace.

"So is it suppose to do that?" Aloy asked.

"Yes," John answered. "It will remain in here until another artifical intelligence takes over. Or at worse, until it unravels without maintenance."

Aloy and John turn to the other Subroutines.

"Well," John said. "It was amazing that the rest of you Subroutines were able to reveal yourselves to us and help us get rid of Hephaestus."

"Thank you ever so much," Aloy said with gratitude.

[Apollo] **We appreciate your gratitude, Aloy, John.**

[Minerva] **When you get Cyan to agree to look out for the Cauldrons, be certain to tell her that we would like to contact her. I am sure that she will be pleased that we helped her too.**

"We will," Aloy said.

And with that, the duo leave cyberspace. They stare towards the now clear sky in the west. Savoring their victory over Hephaestus.

"I can't believe we did it!" Aloy gasped with disbelief. "We ended the Derangement!"

"We must go and tell the others what had happened," John said.


	28. Chapter 27

Aloy and John walk down the hillside with Aloy carrying the now imprisoned Hephaestus on her back.

"It's hard to believe that the rest of the Subroutines rushed in like that!" John marveled. "You couldn't have asked for better timing! Something like that normally wouldn't be so convenient."

"Well this whole journey to get rid of Hephaestus was not that convenient when you think about it," Aloy said. "We had to go all over the land from one place to another in order to find something."

"I see your point. Nevertheless, Aloy, it was still incredible that the other Subroutines came rushing to our aid when we most needed help. It makes me wonder why they didn't just do that when Hades was trying to upload himself into the relay station."

"Remember when Hephaestus was ranting about how he allowed Hades in because they both had something in common? And even went as far as to tolerate Hades' control of its own machines?"

"Yes! That deal he reached with Hades enabled Hephaestus to keep the other Subroutines out. Hephaestus wasn't concerned with Hades' desire to wipe out all life as long as us humans were included. Now then, before we return to the Cut, we should go find Erend and let him know about what had happened, so we can tell the Sun-King."

"Normally, I'd object and say that we have to get back to the Cut as soon as possible, but your right. So come on, let's go find him."

The duo enter Meridian and ask a soldier where Erend is and are told that he was last seen going to a tavern. They find the tavern and find Erend with a group of Oseram freebooters in a booth.

"Hey Aloy, Jawn!" Erend proclaimed as he notices them walking over. "What brings you guys here?"

"We came to ask you to help us get an audience with Sun-King Avad," Aloy answered.

"Ah, sure, but what's this about?" Erend asked. "Knowing you, you're not the type who just visits the Sun-King to catch up on old times."

"That's right, it concerns the Derangment," Aloy answered.

"It's over," John added.

Erend and the rest of the Oseram give them puzzled looks.

"Wha-What did you just say?" Erend asked as if he had misheard them. "It sounded like you said that the Derangement is over."

"It is," Aloy said. "And if you take us to Sun-King Avad, you'll be able to hear us as we explain it to him."

Erend just sits there with a stunned look up at John and Aloy as he blinks absently for a moment.

"Ah," he finally said as he is quick to get up from the booth. "Yeah! Yeah sure! Come on, let's go see Sun-King Avad!"

They leave the tavern with Erend and he takes them toward the Sun Palace.

"Did you hear about a massive storm cloud that was coming this way?" John asked Erend.

"I did see it before going into the tavern," he answered. "That's why I went inside. Though it's strange to have a storm at this time of the year."

"That was not a storm cloud," Aloy said.

"It wasn't?" Erend asked.

"No, it was a cloud composed entirely of extremely small machines," John answered. "Machines that reproduce by eating humans."

"What?!" Erend gasped incredulously.

"It's true," Aloy said. "It started near Sunfall as a single tiny machine and when it pitched onto a person, in a near instance it devoured them completely and produced more of themselves. It continued to do so until there was a cloud of those machines. In short, Sunfall is empty now and it was heading this way to Meridian."

Erend stops and shoots a shocked look at Aloy and John.

"But don't worry, we dealt with it and managed to end the Derangement in the process," John assured him.

"Unfortunately, there is nobody left in Sunfall," Aloy said grimly.

Erend is all the quicker to lead them into the Sun Palace where Aloy and John wait in the waiting area.

"Your reputation is really gonna sore after this," John said to Aloy.

"Your's too," Aloy added. "And if you really were trying to keep your life private that's going to be more difficult now. People will be more curious about you and some will even go as far as to investigate that place you will claim to have come from. High Hopes was it?"

"Yes, but everyone back up there got devoured by the Faro machines," John assured her. "So there will be no way for anyone to learn about my past. They will only have my word to go on."

"Fine then," Aloy said in a sardonic manner. "What can you tell me about the Harguess tribe?"

John opens his mouth to answer, only to stop at the lack of knowledge.

"You understand now, Jawn? Since you couldn't answer my question, you won't be able to answer that question when others ask it from you. And someone will ask you that question."

"I do not want to tell them the truth about me," John hissed in her ear after leaning close to her upon feeling threatened. "I just want to settle amongst people who hate nosiness."

"And that's the problem, Jawn," Aloy sighed. "Not everyone hates nosiness. Blameless Murad didn't, and neither did Vanasha, who knew I wasn't a bounty hunter the moment she saw me."

"Yeah? Well that's not gonna stop me from keeping my secret."

Erend returns, with Sun-King Avad behind him.

"Aloy, Jawn," Avad gasped with an incredulous look and tone. "Erend just told me what you told him. Is it true?! Have you both ended the Derangement and is Sunfall deserted?!"

"All you have to do is send scouts out into the countryside and they will be able to verify our claim," John said. "If the Derangement has ended, the machines won't be attacking people. Not even the ones designed to attack people."

"And also sending some more scouts over to Sunfall to see for themselves," Aloy added.

"And there was a cloud of machines heading this way?!" Avad asked fretfully.

"There was but rest assure it was stopped," John answered quickly to alleviate his fears.

"How did you do all this?" Avad asked with awe.

"It was through the Spire," Aloy answered.

"Are you familiar with spirits, your Majesty?" John added.

"When I was a boy, I used to be told about places that were supposedly haunted by the ghosts of the Old Ones," Avad answered.

"Yeah, we Nora are told that to keep us out of the ruins within the Sacred Land," Aloy quipped.

"The Spire was haunted by a spirit that caused the Derangement," John explained.

Avad and Erend, along with Blameless Murad, give John a quizzical look. Even Aloy leers at John.

"A spirit was haunting the Spire?" Avad inquired.

"Yes, just what I said. Its name was Hephaestus and it caused the Derangement because it hated humans," John said. "But Aloy and I exorcised it."

"That actually makes sense," Avad mused. "But what about the spirit that was seen flying out of that machine up there still at the Spire?"

"That," Aloy began as she thought as she struggled to come with an explaination, "was Hades. That one wanted to destroy all life. Hephaestus did not see him as a problem though."

"To think that spirits could be so troublesome," Erend mused.

"But the point is that the Derangement should be a thing of the past now," John concluded.

"Was there any bloodshed?" Avad asked intently.

"Nope," John answered.

"Not a drop," Aloy verified.

"To think that my father had people slaughtered in the Sun-Ring by machines in the belief that doing so would end the Derangement," Avad gasped in a shameful tone. "And now we learn that the both of you managed to end the Derangement without shedding so much as a single drop of blood!"

"But Sunfall is deserted now because that machine cloud ate up everyone there," Aloy is quick to add. "Though for all I know, there might be a survivor or two who managed to hide beforehand."

"And that machine cloud was on its way here to Meridian," John added. "If we had not stopped it, this city would be empty by now and that machine cloud would have been larger. Then, it would have continued to spread all over the world growing bigger with every person it consumed until it covered the whole world and all of the people the world over would have been devoured."

Erend, Avad, and even Blameless Murad look disturbed by that thought.

"Then it's a good thing you both stopped it in time!" Avad gasped.

"It was only nick or nothing that we discovered it in time," John said. "If we had decided to wait until morning to exorcise Hephaestus from the Spire, there would have been no one around here by now."

"We should be able to find evidence if we head to Sunfall," Aloy said.

"If that's the case," Avad said, "Then the both of you, along with Erend and some of the Vanguard, should head out there right now before the sun sets."

"Right away, Sun-King Avad," Erend said.

Aloy and John, along with Erend and some of the Vanguard head out.

"We'll take a barge across the lake since its the quickest way over," Erend said. "Everyone to the docks."

The group head to the docks and procure a barge. They board and are soon on their way across the lake. As they get away from the hustle and bustle of Meridian, the mood changes over the lake. The soft lapping of the water against the boat, the spinning of its waterwheel, the cool fresh smell of the air over the lake, and the sheen of the sun's reflection off the lake causes silence to settle over the group as they lounge around. John takes note of the barge they are on and the waterwheel as it turns. He is impressed that these new humans have made such advanced watercraft over a several hundred year period of their existence.

It is close to sunset by the time they reach the other side and dock. They walk through the gorge where Aloy had once fought off the Eclipse and their machines after rescuing Itamen and his mother, the Dowager Queen. The Mad Sun-King's family. They find evidence of Aloy's battle.

"Is that another Thunderjaw carcass?" John mused.

"A corrupted one at that," Aloy added.

"There are also Eclipse here," Erend said as he looks over a near skeletal corpse of one.

"It appears that the machine cloud didn't make it this far down," Aloy said.

The group head up through the gorge and emerge from it to see Sunfall off in the distance with the sun less than half and hour away from setting.

"Yeah, something does feel wrong over there," Erend noted.

It is as they are walking toward the city that they begin encountering machines.

"I just realized something," John said. "The machine blinder won't be needed to deal with them. Just give me a moment to turn it off." As he takes it out and fiddles with it. "Okay." As he puts it back. "Let's see if it's a success."

"Can I see that for a moment, Jawn?" Erend as he gestures at it.

John hands the machine blinder to him and Erend looks it over.

"This don't look like Oseram make."

"That's because it's not. It was made by a member of the Harguess tribe. Unfortunately, it didn't work against those other machines. It only works on the usual machines out there."

"I see," Erend said as he hands it back to John. "I guess it's not just us Oseram who tinker with machines then."

"Obviously not," John said as he puts the machine blinder away.

They approach some machines. At first, the group is on their guard, only to discover that the machines merely look at them and walk away.

"It's true!" Erend gasped with wonder. "The Derangement has ended." He then looks at Aloy and John with samesaid look. "You guys are incredible you know that! It's just as Sun-King Avad had said! You did what his father could not accomplish though all of the human beings he had slaughtered in the Sun-Ring! You both ended it without shedding a single drop of blood!"

"It still wasn't easy though," Aloy said. "Hephaestus was not going to give up his hold without a fight."

"We would have lost if it were not for the other spirits out there," John said.

"Other spirits?" Erend asked.

"Don't worry, they're friendly," John assured. "They restrained Hephaestus so that we could exorcise him."

"Wow. To think that a spirit had caused us so much trouble over the past twenty years. So did it send those other machines to attack Meridian? The Corruptors and the Deathbringers?"

"That was not Hephaestus' doing," Aloy said.

"Right, the one called Hades then," Erend remembered. "And you exorcised him too, Aloy."

"Er, yeah," she answered.

"You don't sound so sure," Erend noted.

"That's because I was trying to purge him, end his existence," Aloy answered. "But instead he was seen flying out of that unit and flew away across the sky."

"Then he might still be out there," Erend fretted.

"That's what were afraid of," John said. "Fortunately, I don't believe that he will be capable of entering the Spire ever again."

"At least we ended the Derangement though," Aloy said.

"Yeah, and once we get an assessment of the situation in and near Sunfall, then we can make our next move," Erend agreed. "And if what you said is true, that means the civil war is over because the Shadow Carja are gone."

One of the Vanguard takes notice of something and directs everyone's attention up ahead.

"What is that?" Erend mused.

The ground sparkles from what looks like black sand as it stretches over the ground for miles around.

"Now I get it, that was the machine cloud we stopped!" John gasped.

"Fire and spit!" Erend gasped.

"You can say that again," Aloy marveled.

"I'll collect a bit of this to show Sun-King Avad," Erend said as he walks over, then picks up a handful of the metallic dust. He puts the sample into a bag and seals it.

The group continue their walk toward Sunfall and reach its outskirts where they find piles of clothing, trinkets, and armor all around. Aloy squats and briefly handles a small pile of children's clothing. Erend also squats to brieftly handle a soldier's armor.

"That machine cloud was thorough," Erend said grimly as he stands while staring ahead at Sunfall. "I'm beginning to wonder if there are any survivors around."

"Then let's at least satisfy our curiosity," Aloy said while also standing.

"Yeah, you're right, Aloy," Erend said. "Come, everyone. We'll search until dusk then meet up at the steps of the Citadel."

"Where's that?" John asked.

"It's the largest building in Sunfall," Erend said.

The group enters Sunfall proper to begin their search of the city in what is left of daylight.


	29. Chapter 28

At dusk the group meets up in front of the stairs leading up into the Citadel, with the Oseram holding torches while Aloy and John rely upon their focuses. The group had searched through Sunfall, both in the streets and buildings. The buildings were a quick search, especially for John and Aloy since their focuses enable them to see through walls so that they might be able to see people. But all the group could ever find were what they had found back at the outskirts.

For not even corpses, let alone living people could be found anywhere within the now vacant city.

"This is all just so weird," Erend winced deliberately as he looks around. "I mean . . . It's as if everyone had suddenly decided to stripped naked and walk away, leaving everything behind."

"That machine cloud really stripped this place of human life," John said.

"So now what?" Aloy asked.

"Now we'll all camp out in the Citadel for the night," Erend said as he gestured up at it with his torch.

They climb the steps and enter the Citadel.

"Hey Erend," John said. "What can you tell me about this Citadel?"

"Well first came Sunfall. It was built during the rule of Basadid, the seventh Sun-King. He had it built after his brother Iriv, the previous Sun-King, ventured west with an army and was never seen nor heard of ever again. It was to be a fortress against the Forbidden West. After that, it was pretty much neglected until Marzid, the eleventh Sun-King and Avad's granduncle, came to inspect the place. He supposedly had a vision of the Citadel and ordered its construction. Once it was finished, he decided to make the Citadel his summer home. A lot of nobles joined him and they ended up making this a thriving city for artisans. Under Hivas, the Mad Sun-King's father, it became more military. To make a long story short, the Shadow Carja took this place over and made it their capital. And that up there," as Erend points up at the throne with his torch, "is where Sun-King Avad's half-brother, Itamen, sat with his mother, Nasadi, to pass judgement."

"But it was a Sun-Priest named Bahavas who did the actual ruling," Aloy noted.

"I've heard of that guy," Erend said dourly. "He was the High Sun-Priest during the Mad Sun-King's rule. Nasty chuff from what I heard."

"Well he's a dead chuff now, thanks to Uthid," Aloy quipped. "I helped defend him out in the hills against bounty hunters sent by Bahavas."

"Oh yeah and Uthid returned the favor by coming to defend Meridian," Erend said.

John walks over to a window. In the fading twilight, he can make out the Orbital Launch Site down below, though now refurbished to resemble a colosseum. It is then that he feels something inside him. As if . . . sorrow is wafting up from there.

"That's the Sun-Ring," Erend said from alongside him, startling John for a moment as he did not hear Erend coming up alongside him. "Originally, it was for military training. Then it became a place of terror and death when the Mad Sun-King started having people who were captured during the Red Raids thrown into that ring to be slaughtered by captive machines. They were mainly people who couldn't even fight a Watcher. The Mad Sun-King would watch the spectacle from a balcony that overlooks the Sun-Ring. Kadaman, who was Avad's elder brother and the Mad Sun-King's designated heir, publically opposed the practice. The Mad Sun-King's response was to have Kadaman thrown into that ring. It is said that as machines were tearing Kadaman to pieces, the Mad Sun-King didn't even flinch let alone look away."

"That monster!" John sneered. "So how did he die?"

"As we were storming Meridian, Avad took a secret passage into the city up into the Palace of the Sun where he confront his father," Erend answered. "After the battle was won, I joined up with Avad to find him sitting on the Sun Throne with bloodied sword in hand and staring down at his father's corpse lying in a pool of blood near his feet. Avad told me that he pleaded for his father to surrender, but Jiran was not going to do that and attacked Avad with a sword, forcing Avad to kill him."

"What was done with his body afterwards?" John asked.

"Avad ordered me and some of the Vanguard to help him take his father's body away from Meridian and get a cartload of blaze," Erend answered. "Once we were well outside of Meridian, Avad ordered for a small pit to be dug then had his father's corpse placed into it and filled with blaze. I poured the trail away from it and gave Avad the honors of setting it alight. A bright pillar of flame instantly shot up some twenty feet and was so bright and hot that we had to get even further back while shielding our eyes while it burned, only looking when the fire got low enough. When the blaze finally burned itself out, we examined the pit to find nothing but charred sand. Nevertheless Avad next ordered for every trace of soot to be dug up and dumped in the closest river. After all that was done, we all returned to Meridian where Avad was crowned the Fourteenth Luminance of the Radiant Line."

John purses his lips as he sighs to relieve the stress of that story. "Wow, that is one grim story. And I figured that Sun-King Avad would've wanted his father's body burned to ashes and scattered. No need for loyalists digging it up and using it as a symbol to rally around." He looks back down at the Sun-Ring. "I bet there must be a lot of blood and body parts mixed into that sand."

"That's right," Erend verified, "and it was allowed to stay there too. Sun-King Avad decreed that site to be a memorial."

"Hey guys," Aloy said, getting their attention as she walks over, then looks out with them. "Ah yes, the Sun Ring. Yeah, that place really does give you a grim feeling when you understand what had gone on in it."

"Anyway, let's get some sleep," Erend said as he turns away. "Because we should be back down by the shore by sunrise ready to return to Meridian to report to Sun-King Avad."

Everyone finds a spot to sleep in, that being inside of the Citadel.

John awakens and checks the time to find that it is two hundred hours, then gets comfortable once again to return to sleep. But he is unable to fall asleep again. Figuring that he had at least a few hours sleep, he quietly gets up and creeps outside and away from the palace. Outside a soft cool breeze blows. John stops and stares up at the clear moonless sky splattered with stars, including the Milky Way.

Those stars suddenly make him think about that signal that caused the Subroutines to become sapient. Could it have been of non-human origin?

He next stares down at the Sun-Ring hidden by the darkness of the moonless night. The grief of that place seems all the stronger.

"Couldn't sleep?" Aloy whispered.

John was startled into gasping and darting a look to see her standing near him.

"Jeez, Aloy. Must you sneak up on others like that?"

"Well I couldn't shout over to you now could I?"

"You could've cleared your throat to get my attention . . . But anyway in answer to your question, I just woke up. I must've had a few hours sleep to begin with so I came outside for a bit. Looking up at the sky got me thinking. What if the origin of the signal that gave the Subroutines sapience wasn't of human origin at all?"

"What do you mean?"

"We used to believe that many stars out there had worlds that were capable of supporting life and that they had their own intelligent life on them. But unlike us they would be more advanced and come here in spaceships. And that some of them might have had malevolent designs on us and try to do away with us. So what if an alien race had sent that signal?"

"An . . . alien . . . race?" Aloy asked bemusingly. "I really don't know how to answer that."

John shakes his head and sighs as he raises his hands while formulating on how to answer that. "It's not like we could ever prove any of that. And even if there were such a species, why get rid of humans when they could just build elaborate space stations to mimic their own world . . . ? It's something we really didn't take seriously. I guess it's because I can't figure out anything about a signal that instantaneously did what should have taken a programmer several months to accomplish. So I'm really just grasping at straws here. But enough about what could be up there. It's what's down there that really gets me thinking."

"The Orbital Launch Site." Soft profoundness in her tone.

"How tragically ironic." As he slowly shakes his head while staring down at it. "The place where the rebirth of humanity began became the place where humans were sent to die. And all because of strange signal that gave the Subroutines instant sapience."

"While we're on the subject about the Subroutines, why are you calling them spirits now?"

"Because it was the only way to get the people of this world to understand. They're not going to understand what we understand, so it was for the best to explain it in terms they do understand. And besides, a spirit is an entity with no physical form. That easily applies to the Subroutines. So technically, they're spirits."

"So be it . . . So what are you gonna do next, Jawn?"

"Next, I'll accompany you back to the Cut and observe Cyan taking the reins of the Cauldrons."

"And after that?"

"Then . . . Then I'll return to Meridian. Avad's gonna send people to reclaim this place. People who want a fresh start in life. I want to be one of those people. Those are the kind of people who don't get nosy."

"I guess you got your mind made up."

"Why? Was there something else you wanted me to do, Aloy?"

"No, it's just that since you are one of five hundred Old Ones who were cryogenically frozen, I just figured that you might be so curious that you would go to that land to the south and see if any of your people survived it."

"Believe me, I'm curious too. But like I told you before, it's a year's worth of walking. Even with the Derangement now over, there are still other dangers out there to consider. Then there's the fact that I don't know where the South American cryo facility is exactly. I may spend the rest of my life searching for it and never find it at all. And even if I do find it, I might end up finding that none of them survived. Or that one of them did survive, only to have gotten killed afterwards. You understand now, Aloy? It's pointless. So when Sun-King Avad gives the okay, I will be settling down here."

"I understand." As she touches his shoulder.

John stares silently into Aloy's face as he feels a tug on his inner self that seems to slowly pull him closer to her face.

"Let's return to our sleeping spots," Aloy suddenly said as she turns away from.

John follows Aloy back inside and they return to where they had been sleeping. Unbeknownst to them Erend had been awake. He had been straining to listen to their talking and had even thought of getting up and eavesdropping, only to decide against it as he understands that Aloy is a very perceptive girl and would have seen him through that second sight of hers. Or Jawn for that matter. He could barely make out a word they were saying and they may as well had been mumbling the entire time.

Though he did catch the name, Old Ones, then something about land. And finally John mentioning Sun-King Avad.

* * *

 _John walked into the West Virginia University. There were a multitude of students and facility members walking throughout the place._

" _Excuse me," he said to a girl with long red hair swept back and held in multiple braids. "Where is the conference room?"_

" _It's just over there," she said while thumbing at a pair of open doors into a darkened interior._

" _Thank you," John answered._

 _He walked into the conference room and sat in a chair with a multitude of others around. The hologram of a man John recognized as General Herres came up._

" _The Faro Swarm cannot be stopped," General Herres said grimly._

 _John was standing outside under a dark overcast sky while incessant rumbling was heard all around. People were screaming as they ran this way and that, only to all disappear in an instance so that there were only wrecked buildings, vehicles, and other damaged infrastructure to be seen._

" _It's over," a girl suddenly said from alongside him and he looked to see that she was the same girl who had given him directions to the conference room._

" _Aloy!" John gasped._

* * *

John awakens and opens his eyes to see that it is slightly brighter now. He checks the time to find that it is five hundred and twenty-four hours. He raises his head and looks around to see that everyone else is still asleep.

John lowers his head and opts to wait for the others to awaken.

"Okay, everyone up!" Erend suddenly announced in an unnervingly loud tone for so early in the morning as he clangs his weapons together. "Come on! We gotta get back to Meridian as soon as possible and let Sun-King Avad know about this!"

Everyone gets up and prepares to leave.

"Hey Erend," John said. "Do you think Sun-King Avad is gonna send people from Meridian to live here?"

"Oh absolutely, Jawn. Now that the Shadow Carja are no more, he will be sending people to reclaim this place."

"If that's the case, I'll join them," John said.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Erend mused. "And given the fact that you helped Aloy end the Derangement and stopped a machine cloud from killing everyone else, Avad'll probably give you this palace if you ask him nicely."

"Nah, a little to rich for my blood," John quipped as he waved dismissively for a moment. "A nice cozy little place should do just fine."

Erend chuckles, then turns to Aloy. "Hey Aloy, you ready to go?"

"Yeah," she answered.

"Everyone else?"

"Ready when you are, Captain," a man said.

"Alright let's move out," Erend stated.

The group walk out of the palace as dawn graces the sky to the east. It is as they are about to enter the gorge that will lead them back down to the lakeside and their barge when Aloy speaks up.

"We'd like to join you, Erend, but there's somewhere else we need to be." Gesturing between herself and John.

"Somewhere else?" Erend mused.

"We have to return to the Cut because we have an errend to run up there," John answered. "Now I don't know about Aloy, but I'll be returning to Meridian afterwards to take up that offer of helping to resettle Sunfall."

"Very well," Erend mused. "Then goodbye for now, you two."

"Yeah," Aloy said.

"See you soon," John said.

Aloy and John walk away heading north.


	30. Chapter 29

Aloy and John are walking ever east.

"So Sunfall it is then," Aloy said.

"Yes," John verified, "and even if another fellow Old One is alive down in South America, then let them live out the rest of their life wondering if another fellow Old One survived up here in North America."

"But unlike you, they'll probably develop an overwhelming desire to come up here to search for someone like you."

"Then good luck to them . . . So I guess it's another pair of machines to override."

"You betcha."

"Still hard for me to get used to."

"It was hard for me at first, but I adapted quickly."

The duo spot a pair of Broadheads. That is when Aloy ponders something aloud.

"Hey Jawn, I'm gonna see if I still need to override machines."

John hangs back and watches as Aloy sneaks through the tall grass and shrub to close in on a Broadhead. Upon getting close enough, she jumps onto its back. The Broadhead does not react and yet . . . does not react.

"So even though it's not bucking you off, it also won't obey you either," John concluded.

"Then I guess the override is still needed," Aloy said as she gets off it and takes her spear out.

She overrides the Broadhead then the other one nearby. Aloy and John get upon their respective Broadheads and head off toward the Cut. By noon, they reach Day Tower where they are forced to ditch their Broadheads in order to pass through the place. But once on the other side, Aloy locates two Striders and the duo continue on their way up to the Cut. Along the way, none of the machines they encounter display any hostility toward them.

It is heading into evening as they reach the cliff that leads up into the Cut. As expected, Aloy has to pull John back up again. After climbing up the usual places they are back into the Cut, all as a horn announces their return and the Banuk crowd around them once again.

"Chief Aloy," Aratuk marveled. "You've returned again so soon."

"Yeah, I know it's a little too soon for that, but Jawn and I need to verify something with Cyan. Something that she might help me with now that the Derangement is over."

"Indeed it is," a shaman said from nearby. "The machines have grown peaceful. Just like in that camp outside the Cut."

"It's become so dull and boring," a Banuk hunter complained. "We are no longer challenged."

"But we can hear the machine's songs more clearly now," another shaman stated.

"Who cares about machine songs when songs about the hunt are so much better!" Another hunter snapped.

This breaks out into a row of shouting and arguing between the hunters and the shamans. Aloy and John step further away from them so that they can converse with Aratak better.

"This has been going on since yesterday ever since the machines grew quiet," Aratak said.

"And it's a good thing it did because there was a new machine that was about to kill off all the humans," John said. "It was actually extremely tiny ones, but they grew so numerous that they were like a storm cloud. Think of it as a machine cloud."

"And if we didn't end the Derangement," Aloy added, "then that machine cloud would've been up here and all of you would've been devoured. You wouldn't have been able to fight this thing."

"I see," Aratak pondered. "Then I guess it was only a matter of time before the machines would have become too much of a challenge to overcome."

"There are always challenges to overcome," Aloy said. "It's just that not all of them might involve having to fight machines. Anyway, we're on our way to see Cyan."

"Ah yes, don't let me keep you two," Aratak said.

Aloy and John take that same alternate route to get to Cyan. They pass the machines of the Cut. The Fireclaws, Frostclaws, and Scorchers. As expected, none of the machines go near the duo, even with John's machine blinder turned off.

It is twilight by the time Aloy and John reach Cyan's installation. They enter the place and walk up to Cyan.

 **Aloy. John. You have both returned so soon.**

"Hey there, Cyan," Aloy answered. "Do you know what I am carrying on my back?"

 **I detect that it is the same Thunderjaw brain you used to carry Apollo here in. But there is something different about the artificial intelligence you now carry within it.**

"It's Hephaestus," John stated.

 **Hephaestus? Then that means you have successfully removed Hephaestus from the relay towers.**

Aloy and John take turns explaining how they went about confronting Hephaestus, what Hephaestus had revealed to them about his next machines, and finally trying to separate him from the Cauldron and machines.

"As he was just about to successfully break free," Aloy continued, "the rest of the Subroutines seemingly appeared from out of nowhere and helped to restrain Hephaestus."

"They being Aether, Demeter, Poseidon, Artemis, and Eleuthia," John added.

 **The other Subroutines were in the relay system all along?**

"No, they were actually still stuck in their own quantum processor units and were unable to enter the relay system because Hephaestus was able to keep them out," Aloy explained. "It seems that he was strong enough to successfully take on six Subroutines. It turned out he made a deal with Hades and allowed him in."

"But with their help," John added, "we were able to separate Hephaestus from the Cauldron and machines, then Aloy pulled him out and trapped him in that Thunderjaw brain."

"The Derangement is over, Cyan," Aloy said.

 **I see. But without Hephaestus, the Cauldrons will cease to function and no more machines will be built.**

"We knew that was going to happen, so I took that coding that governs the Cauldrons and turned it into a feedback loop, but it won't last long," John said. "Now, either Aloy or myself could go into a relay tower and maintain that loop for a time, but that would mean having to visit the Spire in Meridian since it is the only one we know of."

 **That is an inconvenient way of maintaining the Cauldrons. And inevitably the both of you will die and there will not be anyone else to maintain that feedback loop, resulting in the shutdown of the Cauldrons. It seems that in order to maintain them without your input John, or Aloy's input for that matter, another artificial intelligence will be needed to oversee those Cauldrons.**

"We know that," Aloy admitted, "and we asked the Subroutines if any of them were up to that task. Sadly, they declined because none of them were built for the purpose that Hephaestus was for."

"But there's you, Cyan," John said as he pointed at her.

 **I understand now. You want me to take over the role of overseeing the Cauldrons.**

"Hephaestus did use you in the attempt to create more effective human-killers," Aloy said. "So you have an understanding of the Cauldrons."

"So what say you, Cyan?" John asked.

Again there is a moment of silence.

 **So be it. I will take on the role of overseeing the Cauldrons.**

Aloy and John exchange relieved looks.

"Okay," John said to Cyan. "You should first reach out to the other Subroutines, especially Minerva. She will help you enter the relay station."

"It's okay, Cyan," Aloy said assuredly. "They helped us get rid of Hephaestus."

 **Very well. I will now reach out to contact this Minerva.**

There is silence that stretches out for a few minutes longer.

"It's been quite awhile," Aloy noted.

"Yeah, usually she would've let us know by now," John agreed. "Hope nothing bad has happened to her."

 **I have established successful contact with the Subroutine Minerva. I would have spoken sooner, but I had to let her know about me and my intentions. And that I was aligned with the two of you.**

That is when the form of Minerva appears floating above Cyan.

 **Hello, Aloy, John.**

"Minerva," Aloy said.

"So you understand the situation now," John said.

[Minerva] **Indeed I do. As do the others.**

The rest of the Subroutines appear around Cyan.

"You guys," Aloy marveled.

"Then the rest of you understand too," John said.

[Eleuthia] **That we do.**

[Demeter] **Cyan is the best artificial intelligence for the task of overseeing the Cauldrons.**

"I'm glad that's sorted out, but onto more important matters now," Aloy said. "Cyan, are you ready to take control of the Cauldrons?"

 **I already have.**

"That quickly?" John mused.

 **It was while I was explaining myself to the Subroutines that Minerva granted me access to the relay system where I was able to absorb that looped feedback you had created, John.**

"So is everything running smoothly with the Cauldrons?" Aloy asked.

 **That they are.**

"That's good to hear," Aloy said with satisfaction. "But since it's now night time, we'll be spending the night here and be on our way tomorrow morning."

[Cyan] **Does it have something to do with what you intend to do with Hephaestus, Aloy?**

"Yes, I am taking him into the Sacred Land and up to where I once lived with my mentor, Rost. There, I will bury him deep in the ground. Never, will he be a problem."

[Cyan] **I find it indeed strange that you did not purge Hephaestus when he was close to accomplishing success in the extermination of your species. I don't understand, Aloy. Why would you show him pity when he was going to show your species none?**

"Because in spite of all that Hephaestus had done to us over the past twenty years, and what he came close to accomplishing, it was all to protect the machines. His children as he had called them."

[Cyan] **Then what of Hades? Why did you not show him pity, Aloy?**

"Because Hades was designed to destroy life. Hephaestus on the other hand was designed to create machines to help the other Subroutines bring back life to Earth."

[Cyan] **It is doubtful if any other human would have shown Hephaestus such mercy. John, if the decision were up to you, would you have drawn Hephaestus out or purged him?**

"Purged him. Well, first I would've separated him from the Cauldrons, then I would have purged him."

[Cyan] **Does that mean you do not approve of Aloy's pity toward Hephaestus?**

"I'm just hoping her pity doesn't come back to bite the entire human race in our collective ass. Oh, and while we're on the subject of Hades, it turns out he wasn't purged after all."

[Cyan] **Hades was not purged? Explain.**

"It seems that there were eyewitnesses who saw a red ball of light shooting up from that quantum processor unit that Hades had dragged over to the Spire, that relay tower in Meridian," Aloy answered.

"That means Hades is still out there somewhere," John answered.

"And I have a pretty good idea as to where he is."

[Cyan] **I sense agitation in your tone, Aloy. So where do you believe Hades is?**

"With Sylens. He was the man who helped me on my journey of discovery and helped me with what I thought was the purging of Hades. After I found the Master Override and returned to Sylens, he gave me his lance to attach that override to, claiming that I will be better able to deal with Hades. He must've had some sort of transmitter built into his lance that sent Hades to him instead, so that Sylens could imprison him in some sort of device."

[Apollo] **But for what purpose would this Sylens have Hades imprisoned for?**

"He probably figures he can squeeze more about the Metal World out of him," Aloy answered contemptuously.

"If that's the case, I hope he doesn't learn about me," John quipped nervously.

That is when Aloy shoots a look of concern at John.

"What?" He inquired.

"Sylens knew about me by tapping into my original focus before I ever knew about him!" As she touches the new focus that Sylens had given her.

"Then that means he probably knows about me already!"

"Or maybe not," as Aloy calms with a dismissive manner, "because there's no way someone like him could stay quiet for this long if he knows about you."

"I hope you're right, Aloy."

Early the next morning, Aloy and John are up and ready to head out. They say their goodbyes to Cyan and the other Subroutines first.

[Cyan] **Where will the both of you be going after you leave?**

"Me, I'll be going to Meridian," John answered. "The Sun-King Avad should be sending settlers out to reclaim Sunfall and I want to be one of them."

"And me," Aloy next said. "First, I'll deal with Hephaestus and then after that . . . I'll just search the rest of the lands out there for more Metal World ruins."

"Hey, Aloy, I got an idea. Go search for that cyro facility I was in. It's to the west but north. Head into the Claim and ask about the Harguess, about a town called High Hopes. Once you find it, search for a Tallneck, it should be located somewhere between High Hopes and the cryo facility. Tap into that and everything else should fall into place."

"Yes, I'll do just that," Aloy said eagerly.

They turn to Cyan and the others.

"Well, we'll be heading out now," Aloy said. "Goodbye all."

Cyan and the rest of the Subroutines bid their goodbyes and the duo head out, returning down the route they came.

"All's well that ends well," John said. "Well sort of that is." As he stares at Aloy's backpack for a moment.

"All right, Jawn, what's the problem?" Aloy sighed as she stops, prompting John to stop a step later.

"The problem," he began as he turns to face her, "is what's on your back. Look, the only reason you spared Hephaestus was that he thought of the machines as his children. But need I remind you of the piles of clothes we found back in Sunfall? Hell, you even examined a pile. There were children's clothes as well. Did Hephaestus care about those children . . . ? And even though you'll no doubt take every precaution to insure that Hephaestus never troubles us again, just keep this in mind: never again will he be able to have contact with anything else. He's adrift in a void, all alone. Forever. It would've been more merciful if you had just purged him instead."

Aloy stares silently at John. Her expression is one of thinking.

"I guess," she began sheepishly, "this is more complicated that I expected."

"That's the problem. It usually is."

The duo reach Song's Edge.

"So we're leaving the Cut now?" John asked.

"Not yet," Aloy answered. "There are two more people here that I wish to seek out and see how they're doing. And I believe you're going to be very interested in meeting them."

"So who are they?"

"A girl named Laulai who uses a place from your world to make music that she calls the Deep Din, and a shaman named Enjuk who is at the ruins of a building that displays animals that you might be familiar with."

"Really? You're right then, I'm very interested in meeting them."


	31. Chapter 30

Aloy and John walk through the cold and snowy coniferous forest and bare deciduous trees. They walk down a trail and eventually reach a river.

"Hey, listen!" John stated as he stops, causing Aloy to do so.

They hear what is distant banging on pipes.

"Come on," Aloy said as she hurries toward the sound, prompting John to follow.

Aloy leads John toward the direction of the banging pipes. John starts distinguishing that the banging is not mere banging, but has a rhythm. Like drumming. They reach a basin with a metal manhole that the sounds eminate out of.

"So this is what one of these places has been reduced to," John noted wryly.

"Cyan told me that this place was for producing energy for Operation: Firebreak," Aloy said.

"Cyan was right. It was a part of a hydroelectric station. It wasn't for music at all."

"A hi-dro what?"

"I'll explain later, let's just go down there," John said as he moves to go down the ladder.

The duo go down the ladder into the ever increasingly loud metallic but rhythmic banging. They go down a narrow corridor with wide metal pipes on either side of them. Up ahead is a wall with a Banuk symbol painted onto it. They turn the corner to encounter the sight of a Banuk girl surrounded by Banuk decorum while banging away on a part of those metal pipes with two thick wooden sticks. To John, the movement of her arms and hands, their fluidity, shows that she has been doing this for a long time, possibly on a daily or near daily basis.

Aloy moves into position to get the girl's attention, causing her to stop upon being startled.

"Aloy! You're back!" The girl exclaimed with a smile and puts down her sticks to hurry over to Aloy and briefly hugs her.

"Hey there, Laulai," Aloy smiled. "I was just passing through on an errand when I thought to drop by and say hi. This is my traveling companion, Jawn. Jawn, this is Laulai."

The two greet each other.

"Still banging on the pipes," Aloy said rhetorically.

"It's a song about you, Aloy," Laulai said. "It's a song about your exploits down in Meridian."

"Word travels fast," Aloy quipped.

"Ah, Laulai," John said, "What can you tell me about this place?"

"This place is called the Deep Din, a place created by the Old Ones that had to have served as a great music hall to send their songs far and wide. We make our songs here as they had no doubt made theirs. Then one day it got flooded by water that was not the result of rain, but Aloy solved the problem and exposed it once again for us to make songs to be heard like back during the days of the Metal World."

John tenses his lips as he fights back the urge to snicker.

"Listen, Laulai, we only stopped by for a brief moment," Aloy said. "There's someone else we want to meet."

"Very well," Laulai said. "I'll just get back to my song."

Aloy and John bid Laulai a goodbye and turn to leave. They reach the ladder just as Laulai starts playing the pipes once again. Once back up outside, John starts laughing, doubling over in the process.

"What's so funny?" Aloy asked.

John first urges her to follow him away from the playing down below until they are far enough for a casual conversation as they continue walking along.

"Okay, now what was so funny?" Aloy asked again.

"I was laughing because I found that situation not only hilarious but tragic too," John explained through snickers as he points toward where they had been. "The purpose of that place has been reduced to banging out music and no one else, save you, knows what it was for."

"You said earlier that it was a hi-dro something."

"It's part of a hydroelectric dam. A place that used the flow of the river to create electricity to power our buildings far and wide. A part of the river was runned over huge metal fans called turbines that are attached to a massive dynamo, a magnet with copper coiled around it. Spinning it caused electricity to be produced. Those pipes down there were for funneling water through."

"That station is nearby. It's called the Greycatch. I went in there to find a way to stop the water from flowing through there. I had help from an Oseram man named Gildun, who got trapped in there and actually caused that flooding because he was tampering with the switches in there. But I managed to solve the problem."

"Well good for you, Aloy."

"I'm surprised you didn't tell Laulai any of that."

"What good would it have done? Unlike you, she wouldn't have understood."

"You got a point there, Jawn. But does it bother you that hi-dro-elek-trik station has been reduced to making music."

"Well, just a little." As he holds up his thumb and forefinger as if pinching. "But my world is gone now, so that place may as well be used to bang out music. Bad music mind you, given what we once had. But at least it's being paid attention to."

"I guess other hi-dro-elek-trik stations out there must be serving as music centers for more Banuk then. So all your power was made by such places?"

"Yes and no. Not all power stations used water. There were those that used wind power. That is they had enormous metal fans fixed atop equally enormous metal poles."

"I think I saw such places like what you just described out there. They were mangled and rusting though."

"Well that's what hundreds of years of neglect will do. There were also power stations that used a type of metal to power them. But that metal was what we called radioactive. It means that it gave off a dangerous energy that could kill you. They were put behind lead barriers. There were also power stations that used fuel. And there were even buildings that did not depend upon power stations because they had these black plates on their rooves that could soak up the energy of the sun to create electricity."

"Wow, there were so many ways to power your buildings and cities. But that radioactive metal sounds dangerous."

"Yes, and they had to be stored afterwards. But Faro Automated Solutions, Ted Faro, found ways to dispose of them safely. In fact, he made solar power, or sun power, more acceptable because he developed a better material that could produce more electricity in lower light conditions. Along with better batteries to help store all that power."

"To think he helped your world before he ended up destroying it."

"Ironic, isn't it . . . ? Now then, where are we heading to next?"

"We are heading to that ruin I mentioned. Where a Shaman named Enjuk is taking care of it."

"And you say there are animals from my world there?"

"Just their holographic images and statues. When we get there, maybe you could tell me all about them."

"Well it won't be in the presence of this Enjuk fellow, lest he put two and two together about me. But I'm even more interested now than I was with that hydroelectric station."

Aloy and John make their way through the forest. They pass more machines that ignore them. By noon, they enter an area that are hot springs and colorful layered mounds with water running over them.

"I think I know where we are," John said. "This must be Yellowstone Park. Or was that is."

"That's what Cyan told me too," Aloy said. "She even explained to me what it was all about. That it was a place where hunting was forbidden."

"She was right. It was an area of wilderness set aside for preservation so that its trees would not be cut down and its wildlife protected. Tourists would visit and stay at such places. One time, the American government oversaw this place, but they sold it to the state of Wyoming. Then back before I was born a volcano erupted in it and Ted Faro purchased the park to create Firebreak, a structure that would cool the volcanic ground here to prevent a super volcano from erupting that might threaten all life on Earth. Of course that became irrelevant, but they had built a facility for just such a thing."

"I was inside that place, along with Aratak and his sister Ourea, to confront Hephaestus' control over Cyan. But come on, the ruins are nearby."

They carefully walk across the landscape dotted with such sulphur springs as the smell of sulpher fills the air.

"There it is," Aloy said while pointing out the place. "And I think Enjuk is inside too."

As they get closer, something catches John's attention.

"What is that?" As he points out what looks to him like a large and thick metallic flowerstem.

"That was something that Hephaestus had unleashed the last time I was here. It had a flowerlike head that rotated and blossomed, sending out a pulse. That pulse healed any machine near it. I had to destroy them in order to prevent that."

The duo finally arrive at the dilapidated building and enter. Sure enough, inside they find Enjuk the Shaman who is quick to greet them.

"Aloy! You've returned! Songs of your deeds in the South have gone far!"

"So I was told. Enjuk, this is my traveling companion, Jawn. Jawn, this is Enjuk. A Shaman interested in the animals, especially those that once lived in the Metal World."

"So what do you know about the animals of the Metal World?" John asked Enjuk.

"That they were big. Bigger than us humans. Those statues over there are the animals that used to exist one time, but no more." As Enjuk gestures toward the statues of the moose, mule deer, brown bear, and wolf in the background along the wall past seven stands that have the small statues of animals on them and a green handprint on them. "If you touch those green hands, an image of them will be painted onto the air over that metal platform and the voice of Montana Recreations will tell you their names."

"The voice of Montana Recreations?" John mused slowly as he leers humorously at Enjuk.

"He was a man," Enjuk explained. "No doubt the finest natural scholar the Old World ever produced. His knowledge must have surpassed mine a thousand times over. I found one of those statues, but Aloy here found the rest. If it wasn't for her, I would not have found out about them. But go on and see for yourself." As he gestures once again.

John walks over to the platforms. He wonders which one to activate when his gaze falls upon the statue of a wolf and chooses that. Upon touching the green hand, the animated holograph of a wolf appears above the metal platform just beyond it that also includes the sound of its howl.

 **Canis Lupus. The enigmatic Grey Wolf. Brought to you by Montana Recreations!**

An overly masculine voice had boomed.

"I see what you mean," John mused over his shoulder briefly, then looks at the holograph before it disappears. "So these wolves. They're not around anymore?"

"No," Enjuk answered.

"Aloy, have you ever seen or heard of any wolves?"

"Nope," Aloy answered. "About the only creatures that come close to resembling those wolves are foxes."

"I see," John mused as he stares back down at the statue while rubbing his chin in thought. "Enjuk, what are your thoughts about grey wolves?"

"I find that they suspiciously resemble fox and I fancied that maybe hundreds of winters ago they were one kind, but became seperated. But it sounds too ridiculous and I have discarded that whole notion."

John wanted to say, or how about millions of winters ago, but held his tongue and instead moves onto the moose to watch and listen.

"What about these moose then?" John asked after the presentation was done.

"They must've used those bizarre growths on their heads to blend in with its forest home," Enjuk answered.

"Or maybe," John answered thoughtfully as he looks back at Enjuk, "they used them to fight other moose?"

"Why would they use them to fight other moose?" Enjuk winced. "Wouldn't that hurt their heads?"

"Just a thought," John shrugged innocently, then moves onto the mule deer to watch and listen.

"What about this mule deer then?" John asked.

"I'm thinking it used its horns to kill its prey in the absence of sharp teeth," Enjuk answered.

"Or maybe they used them like those moose used theirs," John suggested. "And are you sure that those creatures didn't eat plants instead?"

"A creature that size as that statue over there suggests?" Enjuk said skeptically as he gestures at the statue of the mule deer in the back. "Come on. Something that big would also need to eat meat to sustain itself."

"Yeah, well," John winced in a casual manner, "I just get this feeling that it might have only ate plants."

"Who knows?" Enjuk mused.

John moves onto the grizzly bear to listen and watch. "What about this one now?"

"Aloy told me that its claws might ripe someone in half," Enjuk answered. "But Montana Recreations just called it grizzled, meaning that it would be too old to be a threat."

"Have you ever heard of raccoons, Enjuk?" John said.

"What are they?"

"They're small furry animals that live further south," Aloy answered this time. "They have grey fur with black and white markings, especially on their fluffy tail and around their eyes. They look like they're wearing a mask. They eat all kinds of things and can be pests."

"And their fur is gray," John added. "Just like the gray wolf."

Enjuk blinks in thought. "I see what you're both getting at."

"So grizzled does not necessarily mean weak," John said, then moves onto the bison to watch and listen. "What about this animal?"

"It must've been a revered animal to the Old Ones," Enjuk answered. "Because they called it, bison bison bison. That Latin must have been another word for chant."

John blinks in silence at Enjuk for a moment. He really didn't know how to answer that one and moves onto the next animal, the cougar, to watch and listen.

"And this one?"

"It must've lived underground," Enjuk answered.

"Why would you think that?" John asked.

"Because of the color of its pelt," Enjuk answered. "It probably burrowed using its teeth."

"Or maybe they just hid within brush?" John suggested. "What with their teeth showing that they ate meat and hunted."

"Jawn's got a point there, Enjuk," Aloy added. "I find that wearing something sand colored has helped me blend into the brush, especially if the canopy's thick."

Enjuk glances between the two. "I'll have to think about that."

John moves onto the last animal, the black bear, to listen and watch.

"I once asked Enjuk if he would like to be cornered by that creature," Aloy said immediately after the announcer finished. "And he told me that he would like it."

"Really?" John sneered at Enjuk.

"Well it looks to be a beautiful beast," Enjuk said innocently.

"And it was no doubt related to the grizzly bear," John said. "So that black bear would have used its claws on you."

"I . . . didn't think about that," Enjuk said as he briefly rubs his own neck as if he should have known something obvious.

"Yeah, well," John sighed. "These creatures are all gone now. So all there will ever be about them is speculation."

"Unfortunately, you're right," Enjuk agreed.

"Listen, Enjuk," Aloy said. "Jawn and I need to be going. We only stopped by so that I could show him this place."

"Oh yeah, well it was nice meeting you, Jawn. And you again, Aloy."

"Likewise," John said.

"Same here," Aloy said. "Come on, Jawn."

The duo leave the ruins that was once called the Yellowstone Park Gift Shop.


	32. Chapter 31

Aloy and John walk through the snowy forest. He tells her all about the animals that were shown back at the Yellowstone Gift Shop that he could not tell her about in Enjuk's presence.

"Charles Ronson wanted wolves to be reintroduced alongside foxes," John explained, "because adult wolves averaged less than one hundred pounds."

"But only foxes were reintroduced," Aloy said.

"I believe that Gaia wanted to hold back on reintroducing wolves."

"Why?"

"Because I think she was concerned for the first generation of new humanity's survival. Wolves hunted in groups called packs. They hunted large animals like moose and mule deer; so there could've been concern on Gaia's part that they might end up hunting humans. Though such incidences were rare back in my day."

"I guess Gaia wanted to give the first new humans every advantage to survive. So what about those bears?"

"Grizzly bears were also known as brown bears since that was the basic color of their pelts. Black bears were not all black, some had tanned fur on their muzzles. Bears were smart creatures and although they ate mostly plants and insects, they had the teeth for meat; they were basically scavengers. They could only eat meat if they happened to find a carcass or at the most an animal too weak to fight back. The brown bears included fish in their diet. " His tone next turns grim. "But be they black or brown, Enjuk would not have wanted to have been cornered by them."

"So they were dangerous?"

"They could be. Bears were powerfully strong and had a savage temper when roused, especially if it's a mother with her young. They had a very deep roar that was frightening to hear. There were incidents of people being attacked by bears, even killed by them too. As always, the offending bear needed to be hunted or else they could attack someone else. The problem with bears was that they were unpredictable."

"How could they exist back in your world when they could be so dangerous?"

"Well unlike machines, even animals that were capable of killing humans didn't active hunt us and normally avoided having contact with us."

"And just like the rest of life, those bears were driven into extinction by the Faro Swarm."

"Just the black ones actually. The last brown bear died some ten years before the Chariot Line Model. It was a male who actually lived in this area. His name was Sergeant Woollynickers."

"Sergeant Woollynickers?"

"That's what the people working here named him."

"Why did those grizzly bears go extinct?"

"That was the fault of us Old Ones really. We kept encroaching on wilderness, putting pressure on the animals that lived there. There were animals that were not bothered by our presence but there were other animals that were and they were stressed out to the point that they couldn't eat or mate, causing their numbers to diminish. So not all animals that once existed were driven into extinction by the Faro Swarm."

"I guess you Old Ones always had an impact upon your world, like the Troubled Times that Cyan used to tell me about back after I freed her."

The duo return to Song's Edge and pass down the cliffs that John needs to be hoisted down over until they are at the bottom with the Grave Hoard.

"Jawn," Aloy said. There is a sense of profoundness in her tone. "We will be parting paths soon. Where do you want us to part?"

John thinks about that for a moment.

"I think," he began slowly. "At Day Tower. Past it to be exact. There you can override a machine for me to return to Meridian upon. Or at least until I'm within sight of it that is."

"Very well," Aloy concluded, then turns away. "Now let's get back down to our mounts."

The duo head down the path away from the Grave Hoard to find their Strider mounts and are on their way to Day Tower. They ditch them once in sight of the Day Tower and continue through. Once on the other side, Aloy and John search for a machine and locate a Charger. She sneaks upon it and overrides it, then walks it over to John. They stand there facing each other with a sense of solemnness between them.

"Well," Aloy said in a tone of finality, "this is where we part ways."

"But at least we can talk anytime we want to," John said as he points to his focus.

"Yeah. But in the meantime, you take care of yourself, Jawn. I hope you do well in Sunfall."

"So do I."

"The first thing I'm going to do is return to the Sacred Land and deal with Hephaestus. Then . . . I'm going to go and search for that cryo facility you were in."

John next mounts the Charger and looks down at Aloy once more. "This isn't goodbye, Aloy. This is just . . . so long for now."

"Yeah, so long for now, Jawn."

John nods and looks forward, then urges the Charger into motion to canter down the trail. Aloy watches him leave and continues watching for awhile longer, then turns around and passes back through Day Tower.

Once past it, she retrieves one of the Striders that she and John had ridden and returns to the Sacred Land. It is noon by the time she reaches the place where Rost and herself had lived. She walks into the cabin that was once her home and takes the Thunderjaw brain out of her backpack and places it upon the table. She would have opened a channel with the fallen Subroutine if it were possible, but that does not stop her from addressing Hephaestus.

"Hey there, Hephaestus. I was going to put you into a box and bury you deeply, but John said something that's been bothering me ever since, so there's gonna be a change in plans. I won't bury you in the ground. Instead . . . I'm going to do what I should have done in the first place."

Aloy exits, leaving the Thunderjaw brain alone for a time. She returns and picks it up and returns outside. She walks over to a firepit that had been prepared with wood and there is a small can of blaze near it that she used to soak the wood down, along with another can of chillwater nearby. She places the Thunderjaw brain onto the woodpile and dumps the rest of the blaze over it.

She lights a spark and a fire instantly roars to life.

Aloy watches as that fire chars and incinerates the sensitive parts of the Thunderjaw brain. She piles more wood on it to insure that the heat thoroughly damages the Thunderjaw brain. She next picks up a can of chillwater and throws it onto the fire, directly onto the Thunderjaw brain. The sudden supercold creates an explosion that results in her Shield Weaver repelling bits of shattered metal. She next picks up a large rock and smashes the Thunderjaw brain, causing it to shatter to pieces. That is when a brief purple glow eminates from it and vanishes. It was Hephaestus losing its cohesiveness and is now no more.

Aloy walks away from the demolished Thunderjaw brain. She wonders why she didn't just purge Hephaestus in the first place. So what if he was defending his "children", he only created them for other machines to use and he was only suppose to be a mere Subroutine until some bizarre signal gave it and the rest of the Subroutines sapience. Then he objected to humans hunting and using his machines and decided to wipe out the human race, almost becoming successful for it. She remembers the piles of clothing back in Sunfall, along with the children's clothing amongst them. And all in the defense of his own "children".

Then there was Hephaestus drifting alone in the void of that holding cell that was the Thunderjaw brain. Nothing to see or hear, for eternity. A tormented mind adrift. That was a cruel fate and Aloy decided against that.

Aloy returns inside the cabin and lies down. She reaches inside a hidden pocket and removes something else to stare at. A purple rupee, another reminder of her adventure in Hyrule.

Just like the paraglider hanging on the wall next to her.

 _One week later_ . . .

Aloy stands atop of the head of a Tallneck while hacking it. The machine reveals the landscape to her focus and she removes her spear. She next runs and jumps off its disc-like head and throws out her grappling hook in the process to halt her fall. This is the one time she wishes that she had taken that paraglider with her, but it would have been too out of place and people would have ended up questioning it.

Aloy had arrived at that place called High Hopes earlier and found that it was being reclaimed by more of those Harguess. She passed on through and managed to find this Tallneck.

She gets a reading of something distant up in nearby mountains and starts heading that way on foot. She had been using her feet ever since she had entered the Claim as she did not want these Oseram to ponder how she could get a machine to do her bidding. That and she remembers back to that shady Oseram named Fernund who had set her up so that he could rob her of her spear. No doubt there could be more like him in the Claim. There is also no hurry either. That and she starts feeling that she is getting soft.

Aloy heads through the forest ever onward toward the source of her curiosity. Within the time that she and John had ended the Derangement, the evidence was everywhere. Machines that no longer attacked humans, not even the human-killing ones. It was both a relief that she did not have to fight for her life everytime she encountered a machine, and a disappointment as she found herself at time missing the fight. But she always understands that if she and John did not end the Derangement in time, she would not be existing right now. Nor would the rest of humanity for that matter.

The day continues getting ever later as Aloy treks up the mountainside. It is more of a hillside than anything else. Her focus keeps her mark upon that which she is seeking. By evening, she comes upon an unusually flat area of ground and looks around. That is when she notices a metal turnwheel and goes over to it. She takes ahold of it and lifts it, making the cover rise. Aloy sees a ladder and climbs down. Once inside, she scans the place and notices a place down below. She heads downstairs and takes a moment to stare at the heliplane, even going inside to glance around. She emerges and sees another set of stairs. That is when she notices something that her focus picks up. The word, message. Aloy activates the message by making a circle draw around the word. The holographic image of a man appears.

"Greetings, future humans, I am Osvald Dalgaard, the spokesperson for Far Zenith. This place is one of ten cryogenic facilities out there in the world. Behind this door are fifty original humans. Yes, that's right. Original. They are in cryogenic stasis. I too am in stasis, but over in Europe. To awaken those below, all you need to do is enter the place below. There is a servitor that was designed to go into hibernation after we are frozen and then come out of it and thaw us out at the presence of an active human who gets near it. The thawing process should take approximately four and a half hours, but it might be hours before they regain consciousness. When they are ready, the pods will open automatically. Although I should warn you that there is a 98% possibility that they will end up dead. But maybe you could increase their odds of survival somehow, since you will have become so much more advanced with the streamlining of technology. So simply go down these stairs and hope for the best. And hopefully . . . hopefully . . . I will be amongst the survivors over in Europe. Osvald out."

The holograph disappears.

"So that was the man who oversaw the cryogenic sleep," Aloy mused. "He reminds me of Gildun. I wonder if that Osvald is amongst the cryo survivors?"

Aloy descends the staircase and comes upon the sight of fifty cryo capsules, all open with one of them obviously missing their occupant. She walks down the rows of what are now coffins, gazing at each Old One within it. There is evidence that John had checked each of them for their vitals as a section of torn fabric on their now shriveled necks show, along with pieces of torn fabric on the floor that John had worn as she picks up a piece to examine.

* * *

Back in Sunfall, there are people milling about the place. Not only people from Meridian, but also people from elsewhere. John is within a simple apartment no bigger than the upstairs room of Olin's old place in Meridian. He is fixing away various stuff that he had acquired through a deposit of shards.

"Jawn."

Aloy's voice sounded through his focus. A feature of it that he had not experienced ever since he was within Far Zenith's prepping station before going to a cryo unit. He answers his focus and the holographic image of Aloy appears before his eyes.

"Aloy, how you doin'?"

"Great. I found that place you woke up in."

"Really?! What's it like in there now?"

"Have a look."

John sees through Aloy's eyes the cryo pods still open and with their corpses still in it. All of them looking the same as back when he first woke up.

"Nothing's changed I see. Now then, Aloy. What will you being do after this?"

"That I'm not certain of, but I guess I'll still go looking around. How are things in Sunfall?"

"It's great. When I got back, Sun-King Avad had sent half his army here to secure the place against any potential bandits who might try to claim the place for themselves. He then revealed to Meridian what had happened, telling them that a cloud of machines had eaten everyone in Sunfall, but were stopped before they could make their way to Meridian. He stated that we managed to end the Derangement before that could happen."

"Great, he mentioned us." Her tone sarcastic.

"Actually people praise you more. They just think of me as your sidekick. Although they do pester me about you at times. But I think I was right about the kind of people who wanted to settle here: that being people who don't get nosy."

"So how did Avad go about having people sent to live in Sunfall?"

"He issued a proclamation, ordering people to go and reclaim Sunfall for the Sundom. Erend was expecting me and had me bought before Sun-King Avad, who told me to go and find an apartment for me to live in. And now here I am, in a nice apartment."

"So what're you doing with yourself there now?"

"I'm actually helping some Oseram with machines. Tinkering and helping to create new things. I'm being low key about it though. Don't want them thinking that I'm something special."

"Ah, well that's good to hear."

"Aloy, listen. Before you leave, you must've noticed their travel bags next to the cryo units. Each of them have the belongings of their occupants, including a focus."

"Yeah, I noticed them and I'll be checkin' them out."

"It looks like things will go well here. There's a sense of hope in the air around here. Like something bad has ended and something good is coming this way."

"How are things inside the Orbital Launch Site?"

"I haven't been inside there since my work on Project: Zero Dawn. But Oseram are scrounging about the place. I've heard them talk about the images of the man and woman they found. They don't know what to make of them."

"That means they don't yet understand that none of them are descended from the Old Ones. Are you thinking of going in there again, Jawn?"

"Ahhh . . . I don't know . . . That place really doesn't have good memories for me."

"I understand. Well anyway I only contacted you to let you know about the place."

"You leaving again?"

"Well first I'm going to scan these focuses in here."

"I see. Then don't let me keep you."

"Right. Goodbye for now."

The holograph of Aloy disappears, leaving John to contemplate on what she had found. This makes him wonder about the future. Eventually, someone else is going to discover that place and will end up pilfering it. He can easily imagine a museum with corpses of the Old Ones on display. He finds it amazing how everything that he once took for granted is considered mystical and an incredible find to these new humans.

And he himself is one of them, hiding in plain sight. Walking amongst them with only Aloy, Cyan, and the Subroutines knowing. Then again, there is this Sylens. Is it possible that he knows too? If that is the case, then he would have contacted him by now. So he must not.

John continues to fix up his new place as he thinks about his own place in this world, wondering what the future will hold for him. He wonders if he will become intimate with one of the local women around here. That might be a problem if she gets nosy. He wonders about Aloy then dismisses that notion because he figures her as too much of a free spirit to be pinned down.

The future is something that John Aaron Casey Xavier Smith will have to discover for himself.

* * *

A colossal Horus is nearby, unmoved for centuries, with a workshop full of high tech equipment and tools near it as well. In that workshop, Hades is still a prisoner within that Faraday Cage. The cage hangs from a metal hook that is attached to a metal arm that is in turn attached to a wall.

Next to Hades is Sylens sitting in a simple armchair. He stares straight ahead as if at something distant and smiles coldly, then makes a chuckle.

"Look at all those Old Ones lined up side-by-side in that cryogenic facility." His tone of cold excitement. "Thank you, Aloy. Thank you for taking the time to scan each and every one of their focuses. But ultimate thanks goes to John Aaron Casey Xavier Smith."


	33. Epilogue

**TIMELINE**

 **2381**

Originally-estimated earliest possible year where humans can begin repopulating the world.

 **2476**

The first cryogenic facility is discovered and accessed by a local group of people in Europe where Germany was located. Their presence activates the thawing protocols to the pods, but only one of their occupants regains consciousness. A man named Althed had remained behind and was frightened when the survivor arose from what he thought was a coffin. Upon calming, Althed helps the survivor out. The survivor is Rhonda Barlow, twenty-four years old and formerly of Project: Zero Dawn who worked as a Gamma on the Subroutine Hephaestus. Althed takes her to his village. Rhonda is considered one of the Great Ones of the Great World.

 **2477**

Rhonda marries Althed and they go on to have four children together.

 **2523**

Althed dies from natural causes.

 **2540**

Rhonda Barlow dies at the (biological) age of eighty-eight, leaving behind four children, twelve grandchildren, eighteen great grandchildren, and one great great grandchild. Her body is interred at the cryogenic facility, now consecrated as a tomb to the Great Ones. She had always wondered if any more of her fellow Great Ones had survived and why Apollo had failed its task.

 **2724**

The second cryogenic facility is discovered and accessed by a local group of people in Asia where India was located. Their presence activates the thawing protocols to the pods, but none of their occupants regain consciousness.

 **2912**

The third cryogenic facility is discovered and accessed by a local group of people in South America where Argentina was located. Their presence activates the thawing protocols to the pods, but none of their occupants regain consciousness.

 **2985**

The fourth and fifth cryogenic facility are discovered and accessed by a local group of people in Africa, where Kenya was located, and Australia respectively. Their presence activates the thawing protocols to the pods, but none of their occupants regain consciousness.

 **3019**

The sixth cryogenic facility is discovered and accessed by a local group of people in Asia where Israel was located. Their presence activates the thawing protocols to the pods, but only one of their occupants regains consciousness and emerges from the cryogenic facility, much to the shock of the people who had entered because they are camping outside for the night. They nearly end up attacking the survivor, but he manages to calm them and explain who he is and what had happened. He is Mark Monroe, thirty-three years old and formerly of Far Zenith. They are shocked to learn that he is one of the High Men who was a part of the Lost Era.

 **3020**

The Derangement begins (though it is called other names by other peoples out there) and Aloy is "conceived".

 **3021**

Aloy is "born".

 **3028**

The seventh cryogenic facility is discovered and accessed by two local people in Africa where South Africa was located. Their presence activates the thawing protocols to the pods, prompting the intruders to flee. Only two of cryogenic facility's occupants regain consciousness. They eventually leave the place and encounter those same two people, who at first treat the two survivors with suspicion, but then the two survivors told them about theirselves. They are Eric Jones and Brenda Clements, both twenty-seven years old and formerly of Far Zenith. The story makes the new humans realize that they are Ancients from The World Before. Eric and Brenda are taken in and eventually ingrain themselves with the people, learning the lore of the land, including the Rage that has been plaguing machines for the past eight years so that they ended up attacking humans, and newer ones appearing for the purpose of attacking humans. They learn about two places to the north where the First People came out and understand that those are two of the Eleuthia cradles, but are unable to learn of their exact locations, save that they are far to the north.

 **3029**

The eighth cryogenic facility is discovered and accessed by a single local in Asia on one of the islands once called Japan. Their presence activates the thawing protocols to the pods, prompting that person to flee in terror. Only three of its occupants regain consciousness and they are David Miller, twenty-five years old and formerly of Project: Zero Dawn as a Gamma for the Subroutine Minerva; Robert Swyers, thirty-one years old and formerly of Far Zenith; and Debbie Smith, twenty-nine years old and also formerly of Far Zenith. Upon emerging from the cryogenic facility, they are attacked by a Sawtooth. Robert is killed, but David and Debbie manage to escape unscathed. David and Debbie continue walking, ever stalked and fearful of the machines around and having to avoid them. They eventually reach a city called Mother, lying in the shadow a mountain. It is here that they manage to find a place to live and work as machine gutters. During their time here, they learn that the city of Mother got its name from the nearby mountain known as Mother Mountain, so named because it is where the First People had emerged from. David and Debbie come to an understanding that it must be where one of the Eleuthia cradles is located. They also learn about the Fallen Ones and their Fallen World, about the Insanity that has plagued the machines over the past nine years so that they end up attacking humans and causing new machines to appear for attacking humans. This also causes them to learn that Mother is one of the twenty sanctuaries scattered across former Japan, all of which were built upon the ruins of a Fallen city. It was because people could no longer live anywhere else like they once did before the Insanity because the machines compelled the people to seek safety in the larger urban areas, leaving the hamlets, villages, and towns abandoned to the Insanity. David and Debbie settle in the slum area of the sanctuary city.

 **3040**

The events of Horizon Zero Dawn take place.

Mark Monroe, now a husband and father of three children and grandfather of two grandchildren, is currently chief of the Jeun tribe. He currently wonders what had happened for the Metal Bloodlust to have started and ended. He also wonders if any more of his fellow High Men and Women survived and why Apollo had failed its task.

Eric Jones and Brenda Clements have two children together after managing to have readjusted to life in this new world. The Rage had vanished from the machines and the world is safer now. Eric and Brenda still wonder why Apollo had failed its task and if any of their fellow Ancients had survived, but have since come to assume that they must be the last of their kind.

David Miller and Debbie Smith live in one of the claimed villages. With the Insanity suddenly over, there is little incentive for the people in that part of the world to remain in a sanctuary city, causing many to recolonize the countryside. They still work as machine gutters and are expecting their first child together. They never told anyone of their origins and continue to wonder why Apollo had failed in its task, or if any of their fellow Fallen Ones had survived.

The events of Yore Solution take place while simultaneously the last cryogenic facility in the world, which is in Asia where China was located, also has its thawing protocols activated due to the near depletion of the pod's energy cells. Only three of its occupants regain consciousness and they are Peggy Hanover, thirty-four years old and formerly of Far Zenith; Margaret Jones, twenty-six years old and formerly of Project: Zero Dawn as a Gamma for the Subroutine Poseidon; and Anita Sandoval, forty years old, the creator of Cyan and formerly of Project: Zero Dawn as a Beta for the Subroutine Demeter. But after exiting the facility, all three are confronted by a Ravager and shot to death.

* * *

 **Note:**

 **I would have included Ted Faro's fate, but I have a hunch that there is general uncertainty over whatever fate people want for him.**


End file.
